Neural Activity During Introductory Vocalisations in Zebra Finches

Abstract

Communication, especially vocal communication, is essential in the animal kingdom. It consists of the ordering of acoustic elements into a meaningful signal. These rules are collectively referred to as vocal syntax. An important aspect of vocal communication in the songbird Zebra Finch is the song they sing in different social contexts. These songbirds sing a variable number of Introductory Notes (INs) at the beginning of the song. The syntax (and the underlying neural mechanisms) for IN vocalisation, especially in different social contexts, remains poorly understood. HVC is a premotor nucleus in songbirds, and it has been found to play a role in encoding the syntax in other species of songbirds. To examine whether HVC activity encoded information about INs in different social contexts, male zebra finches were implanted with tungsten electrodes to record singing-related activity from HVC neurons. Additionally, previously recorded neurons during directed song (song directed at a female) and undirected song (song sung in social isolation) were analysed to see if these neurons encoded information about social context or if the neural circuitry for these two kinds of song differed in HVC. My analysis revealed 2 out of 11 neurons in which there were differences in activity for directed and undirected songs. My results suggest a small number of HVC neurons might encode differences in activity for different social contexts, although more neurons need to be recorded to further solidify this result.