HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 94/1/454    most recent 00539.2004v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Farries, M. A. Articles by Perkel, D. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Farries, M. A. Articles by Perkel, D. J.

Electrophysiological Properties of Neurons in the Basal Ganglia of the Domestic Chick: Conservation and Divergence in the Evolution of the Avian Basal Ganglia

¹Departments of Biology and Otolaryngology and ²Graduate Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

Submitted 21 May 2004; accepted in final form 10 March 2005

Although the basal ganglia of birds and mammals share an enormous number of anatomical, histochemical, and electrophysiological characteristics, studies in songbirds have revealed some important differences. Specifically, a specialized region of songbird striatum (the input structure of the basal ganglia) has an anatomical projection and a physiologically defined cell type that are characteristic of the globus pallidus. At present, it is not clear if these differences result from adaptations specific to songbirds and perhaps a few other avian taxa or are common to all birds. We shed some light on this issue by characterizing the morphology and electrophysiological properties of basal ganglia neurons in an avian species that is only distantly related to songbirds: the domestic chick. We recorded neurons in chick basal ganglia in a brain slice preparation, using the whole cell technique. We found that chick striatum, like songbird striatum, contains a pallidum-like cell type never reported in mammalian striatum, supporting the hypothesis that this feature is common to all birds. We also discovered that spiny neurons, the most common cell type in the striatum of all amniotes, possess a diverse set of physiological properties in chicks that distinguish them from both mammals and songbirds. This study revealed an unexpectedly complex pattern of conservation and divergence in the properties of neurons recorded in avian striatum.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Meitzen, A. L. Weaver, E. A. Brenowitz, and D. J. Perkel Plastic and Stable Electrophysiological Properties of Adult Avian Forebrain Song-Control Neurons across Changing Breeding Conditions J. Neurosci., May 20, 2009; 29(20): 6558 - 6567. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]