Dopaminergic Contributions to Vocal Learning

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Lukas A HoffmannSamuel J Sober

Abstract

Although the brain relies on auditory information to calibrate vocal behavior, the neural substrates of vocal learning remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that lesions of the dopaminergic inputs to a basal ganglia nucleus in a songbird species (Bengalese finches, Lonchura striata var. domestica) greatly reduced the magnitude of vocal learning driven by disruptive auditory feedback in a negative reinforcement task. These lesions produced no measureable effects on the quality of vocal performance or the amount of song produced. Our results suggest that dopaminergic inputs to the basal ganglia selectively mediate reinforcement-driven vocal plasticity. In contrast, dopaminergic lesions produced no measurable effects on the birds' ability to restore song acoustics to baseline following the cessation of reinforcement training, suggesting that different forms of vocal plasticity may use different neural mechanisms. During skill learning, the brain relies on sensory feedback to improve motor performance. However, the neural basis of sensorimotor learning is poorly understood. Here, we investigate the role of the neurotransmitter dopamine in regulating vocal learning in the Bengalese finch, a songbird with an extremely precise singing b...Continue Reading

Citations

Apr 5, 2017·ELife·Tiberiu TeşileanuVijay Balasubramanian
Jul 12, 2018·Journal of Neurophysiology·Pavel A PuzereyJesse H Goldberg
Dec 13, 2018·Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR·Areen BadwalJulie E Miller
Mar 24, 2017·Journal of Neurophysiology·Karagh MurphyJonathan F Prather
Mar 19, 2020·International Journal of Audiology·Velia CardinBencie Woll
Dec 13, 2016·Science·Vikram GadagkarJesse H Goldberg
May 17, 2017·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Agata BudzilloDavid J Perkel
Sep 9, 2020·Current Opinion in Neurobiology·Ruidong Chen, Jesse H Goldberg
Aug 27, 2019·Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior·Ahmed AldhafiriKen Soderstrom
Feb 23, 2020·Current Opinion in Neurobiology·Richard Mooney
Mar 20, 2018·Neuron·Lei XiaoTodd F Roberts
Jun 2, 2020·Current Opinion in Neurobiology·Richard BertramFrank Johnson

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