Biomedical subjects

Teresa A Nick

Publications and source records attributed to Teresa A Nick.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Developmental modulation of the temporal relationship between brain and behavior.

Humans and songbirds shape learned vocalizations during a sensorimotor sensitive period or "babbling" phase. The brain mechanisms that underlie the shaping of vocalizations by sensory feedback are not known. We examined song behavior and brain activity in zebra finches during singing as they actively shaped their song toward a tutor model. We now show that the temporal relationship of behavior and activity in the premotor area HVC changes with the development of song behavior. During sensorimotor learning, HVC bursting activity both preceded and followed learned vocalizations by hundreds of milliseconds. Correspondingly, the duration of bursts that occurred during ongoing song motif behavior was prolonged in juveniles, as compared with adults, and was inversely correlated with song maturation. Multielectrode single-unit recording in juveniles revealed that single fast-spiking neurons were active both before and after vocalization. These same neurons responded to auditory stimuli. Collectively, these data indicate that a key aspect of sensory critical periods--prolonged bursting--also applies to sensorimotor development. In addition, prolonged motor discharge and sensory input coincide in single neurons of the developing song system, providing the necessary cellular elements for sensorimotor shaping through activity-dependent mechanisms.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2005

Neural song preference during vocal learning in the zebra finch depends on age and state.

The zebra finch acquires its song by first memorizing a model song from a tutor and then matching its own vocalizations to the memory trace of the tutor song, called a template. Neural mechanisms underlying this process require a link between the neural memory trace and the premotor song circuitry, which drives singing. We now report that a premotor song nucleus responds more to the tutor song model than to every other stimulus examined, including the bird's own song (BOS). Neural tuning to the song model occurred only during waking and peaked during the template-matching period of development, when the vocal motor output is sculpted to match the tutor song. During the same developmental phase, the BOS was the most effective excitatory stimulus during sleep. The preference for BOS compared to tutor song inverted with sleep/wake state. Thus, song preference shifts with development and state.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed2005

Neural auditory selectivity develops in parallel with song.

The zebra finch learns his song by memorizing a tutor's vocalization and then using auditory feedback to match his current vocalization to this memory, or template. The neural song system of adult and young birds responds to auditory stimuli, and exhibits selective tuning to the bird's own song (BOS). We have directly examined the development of neural tuning in the song motor system. We measured song system responses to vocalizations produced at various ages during sleep. We now report that the auditory response of the song motor system and motor output are linked early in song development. During sleep, playback of the current BOS induced a response in the song nucleus HVC during the song practice period, even when the song consisted of little more than repeated begging calls. Halfway through the sensorimotor period when the song was not yet in its final form, the response to BOS already exceeded that to all other auditory stimuli tested. Moreover, responses to previous, plastic versions of BOS decayed over time. This indicates that selective tuning to BOS mirrors the vocalization that the bird is currently producing.

Acoustic Stimulation↗