• Neuroscience · Oct 2013

    Developmental changes in BDNF protein in the song control nuclei of zebra finches.

    • Y P Tang and J Wade.
    • Michigan State University, Department of Psychology, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; Michigan State University, Neuroscience Program, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. Electronic address: tangyupi@msu.edu.
    • Neuroscience. 2013 Oct 10;250:578-87.

    AbstractThe zebra finch song system provides an excellent model to study the mechanisms underlying the development of sex difference in brain structure and function. Only male zebra finches sing and the brain nuclei controlling song learning and production are considerably larger than in females. Sexual differentiation may in part be regulated by estrogen, but other molecules including neurotrophic factors likely also affect masculinization. Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a crucial role in numerous aspects of vertebrate brain development and function, including neurogenesis, cell survival, growth of axonal projections, synaptogenesis and processes linked to learning and memory. The current study investigated the expression of BDNF protein in juvenile males and females at four ages, as well as in adults, to begin to evaluate the potential roles of endogenous BDNF in particular stages of structural and functional development of the song system. In both HVC and the robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA), males had more BDNF+ cells than females. The number of immunopositive cells increased in males and decreased in females as they matured, in a pattern generally consistent with a role for BDNF in sensorimotor integration of song learning. In addition, in HVC (but not RA) the ratio of mature BDNF compared to its precursor proBDNF was greater in adult males than those at post-hatching day 25, indicating a region-specific shift in the relative availability of the two forms. Collectively, the data suggest that changes in BDNF protein expression across development may be associated with song system maturation, particularly during the sensorimotor integration of masculine vocalizations.Copyright © 2013 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…