Chinweike N. Asogwa, Changjiu Zhao, Brandon J. Polzin, Alyse N. Maksimoski, Sarah A. Heimovics, Lauren V. Riters
{"title":"Distinct patterns of activity within columns of the periaqueductal gray are associated with functionally distinct birdsongs","authors":"Chinweike N. Asogwa, Changjiu Zhao, Brandon J. Polzin, Alyse N. Maksimoski, Sarah A. Heimovics, Lauren V. Riters","doi":"10.1111/nyas.15066","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Male songbirds produce female-directed songs in spring that convey a state of sexual motivation. Many songbirds also sing in fall flocks in affiliative/gregarious contexts in which song is linked to an intrinsic positive affective state. The periaqueductal gray (PAG) in mammals, which is organized into functional columns, integrates information from multiple brain regions and relays this information to vocal motor areas so that an animal emits a vocal signal reflective of its affective state. Here, we test the hypothesis that distinct columns in the songbird PAG play roles in the distinct affective states communicated by sexually motivated and gregarious song. We quantified the numbers of immediate early gene ZENK-positive cells in 16 PAG subregions in male European starlings (<i>Sturnus vulgaris</i>) after singing gregarious or sexually motivated song. Results suggest that distinct PAG columns in songbirds context-specifically regulate song, agonistic, and courtship behaviors. A second exploratory, functional tract-tracing study also demonstrated that inputs to the PAG from specific subregions of the medial preoptic nucleus may contribute to gregarious song and behaviors indicative of social dominance. Together, findings suggest that conserved PAG columns and inputs from the preoptic nucleus may play a role in context-specific vocal and other social behaviors.</p>","PeriodicalId":8250,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nyas.15066","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"103","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.15066","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Male songbirds produce female-directed songs in spring that convey a state of sexual motivation. Many songbirds also sing in fall flocks in affiliative/gregarious contexts in which song is linked to an intrinsic positive affective state. The periaqueductal gray (PAG) in mammals, which is organized into functional columns, integrates information from multiple brain regions and relays this information to vocal motor areas so that an animal emits a vocal signal reflective of its affective state. Here, we test the hypothesis that distinct columns in the songbird PAG play roles in the distinct affective states communicated by sexually motivated and gregarious song. We quantified the numbers of immediate early gene ZENK-positive cells in 16 PAG subregions in male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) after singing gregarious or sexually motivated song. Results suggest that distinct PAG columns in songbirds context-specifically regulate song, agonistic, and courtship behaviors. A second exploratory, functional tract-tracing study also demonstrated that inputs to the PAG from specific subregions of the medial preoptic nucleus may contribute to gregarious song and behaviors indicative of social dominance. Together, findings suggest that conserved PAG columns and inputs from the preoptic nucleus may play a role in context-specific vocal and other social behaviors.
期刊介绍:
Published on behalf of the New York Academy of Sciences, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences provides multidisciplinary perspectives on research of current scientific interest with far-reaching implications for the wider scientific community and society at large. Each special issue assembles the best thinking of key contributors to a field of investigation at a time when emerging developments offer the promise of new insight. Individually themed, Annals special issues stimulate new ways to think about science by providing a neutral forum for discourse—within and across many institutions and fields.