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Neural dynamics underlying birdsong practice and performance.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Singh Alvarado, J; Goffinet, J; Michael, V; Liberti, W; Hatfield, J; Gardner, T; Pearson, J; Mooney, R
Published in: Nature
November 2021

Musical and athletic skills are learned and maintained through intensive practice to enable precise and reliable performance for an audience. Consequently, understanding such complex behaviours requires insight into how the brain functions during both practice and performance. Male zebra finches learn to produce courtship songs that are more varied when alone and more stereotyped in the presence of females1. These differences are thought to reflect song practice and performance, respectively2,3, providing a useful system in which to explore how neurons encode and regulate motor variability in these two states. Here we show that calcium signals in ensembles of spiny neurons (SNs) in the basal ganglia are highly variable relative to their cortical afferents during song practice. By contrast, SN calcium signals are strongly suppressed during female-directed performance, and optogenetically suppressing SNs during practice strongly reduces vocal variability. Unsupervised learning methods4,5 show that specific SN activity patterns map onto distinct song practice variants. Finally, we establish that noradrenergic signalling reduces vocal variability by directly suppressing SN activity. Thus, SN ensembles encode and drive vocal exploration during practice, and the noradrenergic suppression of SN activity promotes stereotyped and precise song performance for an audience.

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Published In

Nature

DOI

EISSN

1476-4687

Publication Date

November 2021

Volume

599

Issue

7886

Start / End Page

635 / 639

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Vocalization, Animal
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Neurons
  • Models, Neurological
  • Male
  • General Science & Technology
  • Finches
  • Female
  • Calcium Signaling
  • Basal Ganglia
 

Citation

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Singh Alvarado, J., Goffinet, J., Michael, V., Liberti, W., Hatfield, J., Gardner, T., … Mooney, R. (2021). Neural dynamics underlying birdsong practice and performance. Nature, 599(7886), 635–639. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04004-1
Singh Alvarado, Jonnathan, Jack Goffinet, Valerie Michael, William Liberti, Jordan Hatfield, Timothy Gardner, John Pearson, and Richard Mooney. “Neural dynamics underlying birdsong practice and performance.Nature 599, no. 7886 (November 2021): 635–39. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04004-1.
Singh Alvarado J, Goffinet J, Michael V, Liberti W, Hatfield J, Gardner T, et al. Neural dynamics underlying birdsong practice and performance. Nature. 2021 Nov;599(7886):635–9.
Singh Alvarado, Jonnathan, et al. “Neural dynamics underlying birdsong practice and performance.Nature, vol. 599, no. 7886, Nov. 2021, pp. 635–39. Pubmed, doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04004-1.
Singh Alvarado J, Goffinet J, Michael V, Liberti W, Hatfield J, Gardner T, Pearson J, Mooney R. Neural dynamics underlying birdsong practice and performance. Nature. 2021 Nov;599(7886):635–639.
Journal cover image

Published In

Nature

DOI

EISSN

1476-4687

Publication Date

November 2021

Volume

599

Issue

7886

Start / End Page

635 / 639

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Vocalization, Animal
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Neurons
  • Models, Neurological
  • Male
  • General Science & Technology
  • Finches
  • Female
  • Calcium Signaling
  • Basal Ganglia