Differential responsiveness in brain and behavior to sexually dimorphic long calls in male and female zebra finches.

Full Abstract

In zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), as in most other songbird species, there are robust sex differences in brain morphology and vocal behavior. First, male zebra finches have larger song system nuclei--involved in sensorimotor learning and production of song--than females. Second, male zebra finches learn their song from a tutor, whereas female zebra finches develop a learned preference for the song of their father but do not sing themselves. Third, female zebra finches produce an unlearned "long call," while males learn their long call (which is different from that of females) from their song tutor. We investigated behavioral and molecular neuronal responsiveness to this sexually dimorphic communication signal. Behavioral responsiveness was quantified by measuring the number of calls and approaches in response to calls that were broadcast from a speaker. We quantified neuronal activation by measuring the number of neurons expressing Zenk, the protein product of the immediate early gene ZENK, in a number of different forebrain regions in response to male calls, to female calls, or to silence. In both sexes female calls evoked more calls and approaches than male calls. There was significantly greater Zenk expression in response to female calls compared to silence in the caudomedial nidopallium, caudomedial mesopallium, and the hippocampus in females, but not in males. Thus, male and female zebra finches both show a behavioral preference for female calls, but differential neuronal activation in response to sexually dimorphic calls.

Author information

Author/s: Gobes, Sharon M H (SM); Ter Haar, Sita M (SM); Vignal, Clémentine (C); Vergne, Amélie L (AL); Mathevon, Nicolas (N); Bolhuis, Johan J (JJ);

Affiliation: Behavioural Biology and Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, 3508 TB Utrecht, the Netherlands. s.m.h.gobes(-atsign-)gmail.com

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The Journal of comparative neurology (J Comp Neurol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Oct; vol 516 (issue 4) : pp 312-20

Dates: Created 2009/08/11; Completed 2009/11/02;

PMID: 19637285, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/2/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.