Parsing social context in auditory forebrain of male zebra finches.

ABSTRACT: To understand the influence of natural behavioral context on neural activity requires studying awake-behaving animals. Microdrive devices facilitate bridging behavior and physiology to examine neural dynamics across behavioral contexts. Impediments to long-term single unit recordings in awake-behaving animals include tradeoffs between weight, functional flexibility, expense, and fabrication difficulty in microdrive devices. We describe a straightforward and low-cost method to fabricate versatile and lightweight microdrives that remain functional for months in awake-behaving zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). The vocal and gregarious nature of zebra finches provide an opportunity to investigate neural representations of social and behavioral context. Using microdrives, we report how audit

SUBMITTER: Pollak DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11922254 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature