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Gating of auditory responses in the vocal control system of awake songbirds

Nature Neuroscience volume 1, pages 513–518 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Nucleus HVc of the avian song system is a forebrain structure critical in song production, perception and learning. Here we show that most HVc neurons that respond to auditory stimuli under anesthesia show no responses to the same stimulus in the awake, unrestrained bird. This suppression of auditory responses in awake birds does not occur in the forebrain field L complex, which is one of the auditory input stages for HVc. Gating of auditory input at the junction between the auditory and vocal control system may be essential for regulating auditory feedback signals necessary for song learning and maintenance.

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Figure 1: State-dependence of song-selective neural responses in nucleus HVc.
Figure 2: Quantification of auditory responses in HVc.
Figure 3: Auditory responses in field L of awake birds.
Figure 4: Spontaneous recording of neural responses in HVc and Field L.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. Drew and A. Leonardo for technical help with some of the field L data, A. Leonardo for help with the acquisition and analysis software, M. Walsh and J. Pine for help with many of the electronic details of the chronic recording setup and M. Kohwi, G. Laurent, A. Leonardo and D. Perkel for comments on this manuscript. This research was supported by grants from National Institutes of Health (NRSA DC00125 and R03 DC03041 to M.F.S. and NH55984 to M. K. and M.F.S.).

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  1. Division of Biology, M/C 216-76, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 91125, California, USA

    Marc F. Schmidt & Masakazu Konishi

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  1. Marc F. Schmidt
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  2. Masakazu Konishi
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Correspondence to Marc F. Schmidt.

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Schmidt, M., Konishi, M. Gating of auditory responses in the vocal control system of awake songbirds . Nat Neurosci 1, 513–518 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/2232

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