A role for descending auditory cortical projections in songbird vocal learning
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
Abstract
Many learned motor behaviors are acquired by comparing ongoing behavior with an internal representation of correct performance, rather than using an explicit external reward. For example, juvenile songbirds learn to sing by comparing their song with the memory of a tutor song. At present, the brain regions subserving song evaluation are not known. Here we report several findings suggesting that song evaluation involves an avian 'cortical' area previously shown to project to the dopaminergic midbrain and other downstream targets. We find that this ventral portion of the intermediate arcopallium (AIV) receives inputs from auditory cortical areas, and that lesions of AIV result in significant deficits in vocal learning. Additionally, AIV neurons exhibit fast responses to disruptive auditory feedback presented during singing, but not during nonsinging periods. Our findings suggest that auditory cortical areas may guide learning by transmitting song evaluation signals to the dopaminergic midbrain and/or other subcortical targets.
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Ethics
Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health, were reviewed and approved by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Committee on Animal Care (IACUC). Permit Number: 0712-071-15. Every effort was made to minimize suffering.
Copyright
© 2014, Mandelblat-Cerf et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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A role for descending auditory cortical projections in songbird vocal learning
eLife 3:e02152.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02152
Further reading
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- Neuroscience
Control of voluntary limb movement is predominantly attributed to the contralateral motor cortex. However, increasing evidence suggests the involvement of ipsilateral cortical networks in this process, especially in motor tasks requiring bilateral coordination, such as locomotion. In this study, we combined a unilateral thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI) with a cortical neuroprosthetic approach to investigate the functional role of the ipsilateral motor cortex in rat movement through spared contralesional pathways. Our findings reveal that in all SCI rats, stimulation of the ipsilesional motor cortex promoted a bilateral synergy. This synergy involved the elevation of the contralateral foot along with ipsilateral hindlimb extension. Additionally, in two out of seven animals, stimulation of a sub-region of the hindlimb motor cortex modulated ipsilateral hindlimb flexion. Importantly, ipsilateral cortical stimulation delivered after SCI immediately alleviated multiple locomotor and postural deficits, and this effect persisted after ablation of the homologous motor cortex. These results provide strong evidence of a causal link between cortical activation and precise ipsilateral control of hindlimb movement. This study has significant implications for the development of future neuroprosthetic technology and our understanding of motor control in the context of SCI.
