Identifying the locus of neural plasticity for
auditory category learning in zebra finches
INTRODUCTION
Human children learn to
discriminate between
phonetic categories by their
first year. This ability to
separate perceptually
continuous speech sounds
into discrete categories is
crucial for successful adult
speech perception. However,
mechanism and location of
memory formation for these
categories is poorly
understood. Songbirds such
as zebra finches are
commonly used as animal
models for speech perception
due to their ability to
produce and perceive
complex auditory signals.
The caudal mesopallium (CM)
in the songbird brain has
been implicated to be the
first place where neuronal
selectivity and tolerance for
perceptual learned
categories occurs in the
avian auditory perception
hierarchy.1 If blocking
synaptic plasticity in CM can
be shown to negatively affect
category learning in a
behavioral context, then CM
is highly likely to be essential
to categorical learning.2
Identification of CM as an
essential location for
categorical learning plasticity
would open opportunities to
study categorical perception
at a more mechanistic level,
potentially gaining insight
into the early sensory critical
period for categorical
perception, as well as speech
processing disorders such as
aphasia and types of
dyslexia. 4
CONTACT
Crystal Gong
Department of Psychology
Email: cjg5uw@virginia.edu
Phone: 703-587-9152
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
Within-subject design
Da Vehicle Drug
y (no drug) (AP-5)
1 Songs A vs. B
2 Songs C vs. D
3 Songs A vs. B
4 Songs C vs. D
... ... ...
En Successful No
d Discrimination discrimination
METHODS AND MATERIALS
Airpuff operant conditioning (Figure 1a,
b):
S+ song playback allows the bird to
remain socializing on the perch (social)
S- song playback triggers an aversive
puff of air directed at the bird
(aversive). The bird can escape the puff
by leaving the perch within a 2 second
window after the end of the stimulus.
Some experiments added 5 seconds
of darkness immediately prior to the
puff to increase aversion to the
stimulus
NMDAR blocking using AP-5
During discrimination training, AP-5 will
be infused continuously into the CM
using an osmotic pump. RESULTS
Perch escape frequency (small cage)
Perch escape frequency (correction trials) beneficial in ensuring successful training.
Frequency of escape
Block
Perch escape frequency (lights-out + puff)2.
Perch escape frequency (large cage)
Frequency of escape
Block
Crystal Gong, C. Daniel Meliza
University of Virginia, Psychology
RESULTS
Figure 1a. Schematic of airpuff operant conditioning paradigm With the small cage, the expected
response for aversive and social stimuli
seemed to be reversed it escaped
social song more frequently than the
aversive song. Escape rates were also
extremely high, which was likely due to
the small size of the cage.
Adding lights-out as an additional
negative stimulus to the puff appeared to
increase escape levels from around 25%
to about chance, 50%. However, the
Figure 1b. Airpuff paradigm set up
animal quickly habituated, lowering
escape rates back down to 25%.
CONCLUSION
Across several different airpuff
paradigms, with varying cage sizes,
levels of isolation, and addition of lights-
out to aversive stimulus, zebra finches
have not yet successfully learned to
discriminate between social and aversive
stimuli.
Behavior of the bird and parameters of
Figure 2. Infusion of NMDAR antagonist into CM
the operant paradigm appear to be
unpredictable; no combination yet has
induced learning.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Approaching this operant paradigm as
systematically as possible would be
beneficial in determining what factors
help or hinder learning discrimination.
Ensuring the bird perches due to
socialization desire, shaping the bird to
perch for extended periods of time, and
varying the length of stimuli would all be
Once birds can be successfully be
trained on this paradigm to discriminate
between stimuli, work will begin on
Frequency of escape
untethered AP-5 infusion using osmotic
pumps so that birds may perform
behavioral tasks and receive drug
REFERENCES
infusion simultaneously (figure 2).
1. Meliza CD, Margoliash D (2012) Emergence of
selectivity and tolerance in the avian auditory
Block
cortex. J Neurosci, 32:1515815168. PMCID:
PMC3498467.
category
aversive
social
S.F. Cooke, R.W. Komorowski, E.S. Kaplan, J.P.
Gavornik, M.F. Bear. Visual recognition memory,
manifested as long-term habituation, requires
synaptic plasticity in V1. Nat. Neurosci., 18
(2015), pp. 262271
Frequency of escape
3. Tokarev K, Tchernichovski O. (2014). A novel
paradigm for auditory discrimination training with
social reinforcement in songbirds. BioRxiv.
4. Canopoli, A., Herbst, J.A., Hahnloser, R.H.R., 2014.
A higher sensory brain region is involved in
reversing reinforcement-induced vocal changes
in a songbird. J. Neurosci. 34, 70187026
Block
Acknowledgements and thanks to Dan Meliza for
mentorship and to the Harrison Fund for providing
funding for this project.