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Estrogen and sex-dependent loss of the vocal learning system in female zebra finches.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Choe, HN; Tewari, J; Zhu, KW; Davenport, M; Matsunami, H; Jarvis, ED
Published in: Hormones and behavior
March 2021

Sex hormones alter the organization of the brain during early development and coordinate various behaviors throughout life. In zebra finches, song learning is limited to males, with the associated song learning brain pathways only maturing in males and atrophying in females. While this atrophy can be prevented by treating females with exogenous estrogen during early post-hatch development, the requirement of estrogen during normal male song system development is uncertain. For the first time in songbirds, we administered exemestane, a potent third generation estrogen synthesis inhibitor, from the day of hatching until adulthood in order to reassess the role of estrogen in song circuit development. We examined the behavior, brain anatomy, and transcriptomes of individual song nuclei in these pharmacologically manipulated animals. We found that males with long-term exemestane treatment had diminished male-specific plumage and impaired song learning, but minimal effect on song nuclei sizes and their specialized transcriptome. Consistent with prior findings, females with long-term estrogen treatment retained a functional song system with song nuclei that had specialized gene expression similar, but not identical to males. We also observed that different song nuclei responded to estrogen manipulation differently, with Area X in the striatum being the most altered by estrogen modulation. These findings support the hypothesis that song learning is an ancestral trait in both sexes that was subsequently suppressed in females of some species and that estrogen has come to play a critical role in modulating this suppression as well as refinement of song learning.

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Published In

Hormones and behavior

DOI

EISSN

1095-6867

ISSN

0018-506X

Publication Date

March 2021

Volume

129

Start / End Page

104911

Related Subject Headings

  • Vocalization, Animal
  • Male
  • Learning
  • Finches
  • Female
  • Estrogens
  • Brain
  • Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
  • Animals
  • 52 Psychology
 

Citation

APA
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ICMJE
MLA
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Choe, H. N., Tewari, J., Zhu, K. W., Davenport, M., Matsunami, H., & Jarvis, E. D. (2021). Estrogen and sex-dependent loss of the vocal learning system in female zebra finches. Hormones and Behavior, 129, 104911. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104911
Choe, Ha Na, Jeevan Tewari, Kevin W. Zhu, Matthew Davenport, Hiroaki Matsunami, and Erich D. Jarvis. “Estrogen and sex-dependent loss of the vocal learning system in female zebra finches.Hormones and Behavior 129 (March 2021): 104911. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104911.
Choe HN, Tewari J, Zhu KW, Davenport M, Matsunami H, Jarvis ED. Estrogen and sex-dependent loss of the vocal learning system in female zebra finches. Hormones and behavior. 2021 Mar;129:104911.
Choe, Ha Na, et al. “Estrogen and sex-dependent loss of the vocal learning system in female zebra finches.Hormones and Behavior, vol. 129, Mar. 2021, p. 104911. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104911.
Choe HN, Tewari J, Zhu KW, Davenport M, Matsunami H, Jarvis ED. Estrogen and sex-dependent loss of the vocal learning system in female zebra finches. Hormones and behavior. 2021 Mar;129:104911.
Journal cover image

Published In

Hormones and behavior

DOI

EISSN

1095-6867

ISSN

0018-506X

Publication Date

March 2021

Volume

129

Start / End Page

104911

Related Subject Headings

  • Vocalization, Animal
  • Male
  • Learning
  • Finches
  • Female
  • Estrogens
  • Brain
  • Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
  • Animals
  • 52 Psychology