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Parental state dynamically reshapes auditory processing of offspring vocalizations in zebra finches.

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Τίτλος: Parental state dynamically reshapes auditory processing of offspring vocalizations in zebra finches.
Συγγραφείς: Smiley KO; Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences and Neuroscience & Behavior Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA., Cini FA; Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences and Neuroscience & Behavior Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA., Remage-Healey L; Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences and Neuroscience & Behavior Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.
Πηγή: Journal of neuroendocrinology [J Neuroendocrinol] 2026 Sep; Vol. 38 (9), pp. e70266.
Τύπος έκδοσης: Journal Article
Γλώσσα: English
Στοιχεία περιοδικού: Publisher: Wiley & Sons Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 8913461 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1365-2826 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 09538194 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Neuroendocrinol Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s): Publication: <2010->: Malden, MA : Wiley & Sons
Original Publication: Eynsham, Oxon, UK : Oxford University Press, c1989-
Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): Finches*/physiology , Vocalization, Animal*/physiology , Auditory Perception*/physiology , Paternal Behavior*/physiology , Maternal Behavior*/physiology, Auditory Cortex/physiology ; Animals ; Male ; Female ; Cues ; Acoustic Stimulation
Περίληψη: Parental care is critical for offspring survival. For many species, including humans, auditory cues unique to dependent offspring, such as baby cries, elicit the necessary behavior from parents to care for young. Despite this, we know little about how the brain encodes auditory cues specific to offspring. Zebra finches are an excellent model to study this. Zebra finches are biparental, meaning both male and female parents raise the young and rely on auditory cues (begging calls) to elicit chick feeding responses (parental behavior). Begging calls also become individually identifiable by the parents, necessitating higher-order learning/association neural processes. It is well established that the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM), a higher-order region of secondary pallial cortex (analogous to the mammalian secondary auditory cortex), is involved in the perception of complex auditory signals in birds. It is unknown, however, if/how NCM responds to offspring begging calls. To begin testing this, we used high density silicon probes to record single-unit in vivo electrophysiology activity in the NCM of adult parenting and non-parenting zebra finches exposed to playbacks of their own chick's begging calls (parents only), novel age-matched begging calls (parents and non-parents), as well as novel adult male song and pure tone controls. Our results show that NCM neurons in parents respond more strongly (i.e., higher evoked firing rates) to both their own and novel chick begging calls and have higher baseline (spontaneous) firing rates in narrow spiking units relative to non-parents. Furthermore, NCM neurons in parenting females tend to show more selective responses towards their own chick begging calls, whereas those in males do not show similar levels of selectivity. These results provide preliminary evidence that NCM responses are altered during parenting and lay essential groundwork for future studies on how auditory responses may elicit parental behavior.
(© 2026 The Author(s). Journal of Neuroendocrinology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Society for Neuroendocrinology.)
Σχόλια: Update of: bioRxiv. 2026 Jan 28:2026.01.27.702116. doi: 10.64898/2026.01.27.702116.. (PMID: 41659511)
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Grant Information: K99 HD108800 United States HD NICHD NIH HHS; R01 NS082179 United States NS NINDS NIH HHS; 1K99HD108800-01 United States NH NIH HHS; R01NS082179 United States NH NIH HHS
Contributed Indexing: Keywords: auditory processing; caudomedial nidopallium; parental care; parent‐offspring communication; zebra finch
Entry Date(s): Date Created: 20260910 Date Completed: 20260910 Latest Revision: 20260920
Update Code: 20260921
PubMed Central ID: PMC13559750
DOI: 10.1111/jne.70266
PMID: 42719950
Βάση Δεδομένων: MEDLINE
Περιγραφή
ISSN:1365-2826
DOI:10.1111/jne.70266