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Population-Level Representation of a Temporal Sequence Underlying Song Production in the Zebra Finch.

Picardo MA, Merel J, Katlowitz KA, Vallentin D, Okobi DE, Benezra SE, Clary RC, Pnevmatikakis EA, Paninski L, Long MA – 2016

The zebra finch brain features a set of clearly defined and hierarchically arranged motor nuclei that are selectively responsible for producing singing behavior. One of these regions, a critical forebrain structure called HVC, contains premotor neurons that are active at precise time points during song production. However, the neural representation of this behavior at a population level remains elusive. We used two-photon microscopy to monitor ensemble activity during singing, integrating across multiple trials by adopting a Bayesian inference approach to more precisely estimate burst timing. Additionally, we examined spiking and motor-related synaptic inputs using intracellular recordings during singing. With both experimental approaches, we find that premotor events do not occur preferentially at the onsets or offsets of song syllables or at specific subsyllabic motor landmarks. These results strongly support the notion that HVC projection neurons collectively exhibit a temporal sequence during singing that is uncoupled from ongoing movements.

Title
Population-Level Representation of a Temporal Sequence Underlying Song Production in the Zebra Finch.
Author
Picardo MA, Merel J, Katlowitz KA, Vallentin D, Okobi DE, Benezra SE, Clary RC, Pnevmatikakis EA, Paninski L, Long MA
Publisher
Cell Press,
Date
2016-05-18
Identifier
doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2016.02.016
Appeared in
Neuron 90(4): 866-76
Language
eng
Type
Text
Rights
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.