Uncovering a 'sensitive window' of multisensory and motor neuroplasticity in the cerebrum and cerebellum of male and female starling
- University of Antwerp, Belgium
- KU Leuven, Belgium
Abstract
Traditionally, research unraveling seasonal neuroplasticity in songbirds has focused on the male song control system and testosterone. We longitudinally monitored the song behavior and neuroplasticity in male and female starlings during multiple photoperiods using Diffusion Tensor and Fixel-Based techniques. These exploratory data-driven whole-brain methods resulted in a population-based tractogram confirming microstructural sexual dimorphisms in the song control system. Furthermore, male brains showed hemispheric asymmetries in the pallium, whereas females had higher interhemispheric connectivity, which could not be attributed to brain size differences. Only females with large brains sing but differ from males in their song behavior by showing involvement of the hippocampus. Both sexes experienced multisensory neuroplasticity in the song control, auditory and visual system, and cerebellum, mainly during the photosensitive period. This period with low gonadal hormone levels might represent a 'sensitive window' during which different sensory and motor systems in the cerebrum and cerebellum can be seasonally re-shaped in both sexes.
Data availability
All MRI data have been deposited in Dryad (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h44j0zpj8). Source data files have been provided for Figures 3-11.
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The photosensitive phase acts as a sensitive window for seasonal multisensory neuroplasticity in male and female starlingsDryad Digital Repository, 10.5061/dryad.h44j0zpj8.
Article and author information
Author details
Annemie Van der Linden
Funding
Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (PLASTOSCINE": P7/17")
- Annemie Van der Linden
Research Foundation - Flanders (G030213N)
- Annemie Van der Linden
Research Foundation - Flanders (115217N)
- Jasmien Orije
Research Foundation - Flanders (12R1917N)
- Elisabeth Jonckers
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: The housing and experimental procedures were performed in agreement with the European directives, Belgian and Flemish laws and were approved by the Committee on Animal Care and Use of the University of Antwerp, Belgium (2014-52).
Copyright
© 2021, Orije 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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Uncovering a 'sensitive window' of multisensory and motor neuroplasticity in the cerebrum and cerebellum of male and female starling
eLife 10:e66777.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.66777
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