Common features of neural activity during singing and sleep periods in a basal ganglia nucleus critical for vocal learning in a juvenile songbird.

ABSTRACT: Reactivations of waking experiences during sleep have been considered fundamental neural processes for memory consolidation. In songbirds, evidence suggests the importance of sleep-related neuronal activity in song system motor pathway nuclei for both juvenile vocal learning and maintenance of adult song. Like those in singing motor nuclei, neurons in the basal ganglia nucleus Area X, part of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit essential for vocal plasticity, exhibit singing-related activity. It is unclear, however, whether Area X neurons show any distinctive spiking activity during sleep similar to that during singing. Here we demonstrate that, during sleep, Area X pallidal neurons exhibit phasic spiking activity, which shares some firing properties with activity during singing. Sho

SUBMITTER: Yanagihara S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3185046 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature