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: 97/1/423    most recent 00547.2006v1 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 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 (3) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hahnloser, R. H. R. Articles by Fee, M. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hahnloser, R. H. R. Articles by Fee, M. S.

Sleep-Related Spike Bursts in HVC Are Driven by the Nucleus Interface of the Nidopallium

¹Institute of Neuroinformatics, Universität Zürich/Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland; and ²Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Submitted 22 May 2006; accepted in final form 23 August 2006

The function and the origin of replay of motor activity during sleep are currently unknown. Spontaneous activity patterns in the nucleus robustus of the arcopallium (RA) and in HVC (high vocal center) of the sleeping songbird resemble premotor patterns in these areas observed during singing. We test the hypothesis that the nucleus interface of the nidopallium (NIf) has an important role for initiating and shaping these sleep-related activity patterns. In head-fixed, sleeping zebra finches we find that injections of the GABA_A-agonist muscimol into NIf lead to transient abolishment of premotor-like bursting activity in HVC neurons. Using antidromic activation of NIf neurons by electrical stimulation in HVC, we are able to distinguish a class of HVC-projecting NIf neurons from a second class of NIf neurons. Paired extracellular recordings in NIf and HVC show that NIf neurons provide a strong bursting drive to HVC. In contrast to HVC neurons, whose bursting activity waxes and wanes in burst epochs, individual NIf projection neurons are nearly continuously bursting and tend to burst only once on the timescale of song syllables. Two types of HVC projection neurons—premotor and striatal projecting—respond differently to the NIf drive, in agreement with notions of HVC relaying premotor signals to RA and an anticipatory copy thereof to areas of a basal ganglia pathway.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. J. Agate, B. B. Scott, B. Haripal, C. Lois, and F. Nottebohm Transgenic songbirds offer an opportunity to develop a genetic model for vocal learning PNAS, October 20, 2009; 106(42): 17963 - 17967. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Gibb, T. Q. Gentner, and H. D. I. Abarbanel Inhibition and Recurrent Excitation in a Computational Model of Sparse Bursting in Song Nucleus HVC J Neurophysiol, September 1, 2009; 102(3): 1748 - 1762. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Gibb, T. Q. Gentner, and H. D. I. Abarbanel Brain Stem Feedback in a Computational Model of Birdsong Sequencing J Neurophysiol, September 1, 2009; 102(3): 1763 - 1778. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Kojima and A. J. Doupe Activity Propagation in an Avian Basal Ganglia-Thalamocortical Circuit Essential for Vocal Learning J. Neurosci., April 15, 2009; 29(15): 4782 - 4793. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. H. R. Hahnloser, C. Z.-H. Wang, A. Nager, and K. Naie Spikes and Bursts in Two Types of Thalamic Projection Neurons Differentially Shape Sleep Patterns and Auditory Responses in a Songbird J. Neurosci., May 7, 2008; 28(19): 5040 - 5052. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. A. Thompson, W. Wu, R. Bertram, and F. Johnson Auditory-Dependent Vocal Recovery in Adult Male Zebra Finches Is Facilitated by Lesion of a Forebrain Pathway That Includes the Basal Ganglia J. Neurosci., November 7, 2007; 27(45): 12308 - 12320. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]