Songbird mesostriatal dopamine pathways are spatially segregated before the onset of vocal learning.

ABSTRACT: Diverse dopamine (DA) pathways send distinct reinforcement signals to different striatal regions. In adult songbirds, a DA pathway from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to Area X, the striatal nucleus of the song system, carries singing-related performance error signals important for learning. Meanwhile, a parallel DA pathway to a medial striatal area (MST) arises from a distinct group of neighboring DA neurons that lack connectivity to song circuits and do not encode song error. To test if the structural and functional segregation of these two pathways depends on singing experience, we carried out anatomical studies early in development before the onset of song learning. We find that distinct VTA neurons project to either Area X or MST in juvenile birds before the onset of substantial voc

SUBMITTER: Ramarao M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10653429 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature