TY - JOUR
T1 - Seasonal neuroplasticity in the songbird telencephalon
T2 - A role for melatonin
AU - Bentley, George E.
AU - Van't Hof, Thomas J.
AU - Ball, Gregory F.
PY - 1999/4/13
Y1 - 1999/4/13
N2 - Neuroplasticity in the vocal control system of songbirds is strongly influenced by seasonal fluctuations in circulating testosterone. These seasonally plastic telencephalic structures are implicated in the learning and production of song in songbirds. The role of the indoleamine melatonin in seasonal adaptations in birds has remained unclear. In this experiment, European starlings were castrated to remove the neuromodulating activity of gonadal steroids and were exposed to different photoperiods to induce reproductive states characteristic of different seasonal conditions. Long days increased the volume of the song-control nucleus high vocal center compared with its volume on short days. Exogenous melatonin attenuated the long-day-induced volumetric increase in high vocal center and also decreased the volume of another song-control nucleus, area X. This effect was observed regardless of reproductive state. To our knowledge, this is the first direct evidence of a role for melatonin in functional plasticity within the central nervous system of vertebrates.
AB - Neuroplasticity in the vocal control system of songbirds is strongly influenced by seasonal fluctuations in circulating testosterone. These seasonally plastic telencephalic structures are implicated in the learning and production of song in songbirds. The role of the indoleamine melatonin in seasonal adaptations in birds has remained unclear. In this experiment, European starlings were castrated to remove the neuromodulating activity of gonadal steroids and were exposed to different photoperiods to induce reproductive states characteristic of different seasonal conditions. Long days increased the volume of the song-control nucleus high vocal center compared with its volume on short days. Exogenous melatonin attenuated the long-day-induced volumetric increase in high vocal center and also decreased the volume of another song-control nucleus, area X. This effect was observed regardless of reproductive state. To our knowledge, this is the first direct evidence of a role for melatonin in functional plasticity within the central nervous system of vertebrates.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033551237&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0033551237&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.96.8.4674
DO - 10.1073/pnas.96.8.4674
M3 - Article
C2 - 10200321
AN - SCOPUS:0033551237
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 96
SP - 4674
EP - 4679
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 8
ER -