Dataset Information

Inhibition and recurrent excitation in a computational model of sparse bursting in song nucleus HVC.

ABSTRACT: The telencephalic premotor nucleus HVC is situated at a critical point in the pattern-generating premotor circuitry of oscine songbirds. A striking feature of HVC's premotor activity is that its projection neurons burst extremely sparsely. Here we present a computational model of HVC embodying several central hypotheses: 1) sparse bursting is generated in bistable groups of recurrently connected robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA)-projecting (HVCRA) neurons; 2) inhibitory interneurons terminate bursts in the HVCRA groups; and 3) sparse sequences of bursts are generated by the propagation of waves of bursting activity along networks of HVCRA neurons. Our model of sparse bursting places HVC in the context of central pattern generators and cortical networks using inhibition, recurrent excitation, and bistability. Importantly, the unintuitive result that inhibitory interneurons can precisely terminate the bursts of HVCRA groups while showing relatively sustained activity throughout the song is made possible by a specific constraint on their connectivity. We use the model to make novel predictions that can be tested experimentally.

SUBMITTER: Gibb L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2746786 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Inhibition and recurrent excitation in a computational model of sparse bursting in song nucleus HVC.

Gibb Leif L Gentner Timothy Q TQ Abarbanel Henry D I HD

Journal of neurophysiology 20090610 3

The telencephalic premotor nucleus HVC is situated at a critical point in the pattern-generating premotor circuitry of oscine songbirds. A striking feature of HVC's premotor activity is that its projection neurons burst extremely sparsely. Here we present a computational model of HVC embodying several central hypotheses: 1) sparse bursting is generated in bistable groups of recurrently connected robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA)-projecting (HVCRA) neurons; 2) inhibitory interneurons termina ...[more]

PMID: 19515949

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundIn male birds, influence of the sex steroid hormone testosterone and its estrogenic metabolites on seasonal song behavior has been demonstrated for many species. In contrast, female song was only recently recognized to be widespread among songbird species, and to date, sex hormone effects on singing and brain regions controlling song development and production (song control nuclei) have been studied in females almost exclusively using domesticated canaries (Serinus canaria). However, domesticated female canaries hardly sing at all in normal circumstances and exhibit only very weak, if any, song seasonally under the natural photoperiod. By contrast, adult female European robins (Erithacus rubecula) routinely sing during the winter season, a time when they defend feeding territories and show elevated circulating testosterone levels. We therefore used wild female European robins captured in the fall to examine the effects of testosterone administration on song as well as on the anatomy and the transcriptome of the song control nucleus HVC (sic). The results obtained from female robins were compared to outcomes of a similar experiment done in female domesticated canaries.ResultsTestosterone treatment induced abundant song in female robins. Examination of HVC transcriptomes and histological analyses of song control nuclei showed testosterone-induced differentiation processes related to neuron growth and spacing, angiogenesis and neuron projection morphogenesis. Similar effects were found in female canaries treated with testosterone. In contrast, the expression of genes related to synaptic transmission was not enhanced in the HVC of testosterone treated female robins but was strongly up-regulated in female canaries. A comparison of the testosterone-stimulated transcriptomes indicated that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) likely functions as a common mediator of the testosterone effects in HVC.ConclusionsTestosterone-induced singing of female robins correlated with cellular differentiation processes in the HVC that were partially similar to those seen in the HVC of testosterone-treated female canaries. Other modes of testosterone action, notably related to synaptic transmission, appeared to be regulated in a more species-specific manner in the female HVC. Divergent effects of testosterone on the HVC of different species might be related to differences between species in regulatory mechanisms of the singing behavior.

Dataset Information

Inhibition and recurrent excitation in a computational model of sparse bursting in song nucleus HVC.

Publications

Inhibition and recurrent excitation in a computational model of sparse bursting in song nucleus HVC.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets