Neural correlates of vocal initiation in the VTA/SNc of juvenile male zebra finches

Initiation and execution of complex learned vocalizations such as human speech and birdsong depend on multiple brain circuits. In songbirds, neurons in the motor cortices and basal ganglia circuitry exhibit preparatory activity before initiation of song, and that activity is thought to play an impor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2021-11, Vol.11 (1), p.22388-22388, Article 22388
Main Authors: Yanagihara, Shin, Ikebuchi, Maki, Mori, Chihiro, Tachibana, Ryosuke O., Okanoya, Kazuo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/378/1595
631/378/2632/1323
Animals
Basal ganglia
Behavior, Animal
Birds
Dopamine
Electrophysiological Phenomena
Finches - physiology
Fluorescent Antibody Technique
Humanities and Social Sciences
Learning
Male
Mesencephalon
multidisciplinary
Neurons - physiology
Pars Compacta - physiology
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Song
Songbirds
Substantia nigra
Ventral Tegmental Area - physiology
Ventral tegmentum
Vocalization behavior
Vocalization, Animal
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Summary:Initiation and execution of complex learned vocalizations such as human speech and birdsong depend on multiple brain circuits. In songbirds, neurons in the motor cortices and basal ganglia circuitry exhibit preparatory activity before initiation of song, and that activity is thought to play an important role in successful song performance. However, it remains unknown where a start signal for song is represented in the brain and how such a signal would lead to appropriate vocal initiation. To test whether neurons in the midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) show activity related to song initiation, we carried out extracellular recordings of VTA/SNc single units in singing juvenile male zebra finches. We found that a subset of VTA/SNc units exhibit phasic activity precisely time-locked to the onset of the song bout, and that the activity occurred specifically at the beginning of song. These findings suggest that phasic activity in the VTA/SNc represents a start signal that triggers song vocalization.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-01955-3