Mello Claudio V
Neurological Sciences Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97006, USA.
Front Biosci. 2004 Jan 1;9:63-73. doi: 10.2741/1201.
Inducible gene expression analysis has been successfully used to identify and characterize areas involved in the auditory processing of song in songbirds. When songbirds hear song, zenk, a gene encoding a transcriptional regulator linked to synaptic plasticity, is rapidly and transiently induced in several discrete areas of the telencephalon. This phenomenon is most marked in the caudomedial neostriatum (NCM), a major auditory processing area. zenk induction by song has proven very useful to investigate the functional organization of NCM as well as to characterize song-responding neurons in this brain area. Combined with data from anatomical and electrophysiological studies, the results of gene expression analysis suggest that NCM is involved in the auditory processing of complex sounds such as song and possibly in the formation and/or storage of song auditory memories. Thus, NCM appears to play a prominent role in perceptual aspects of vocal communication, and potentially in the process of vocal learning in songbirds and other vocal learning avian orders, i.e. parrots and hummingbirds.
诱导型基因表达分析已成功用于识别和表征鸣禽歌曲听觉处理中涉及的区域。当鸣禽听到歌曲时，zenk（一种编码与突触可塑性相关的转录调节因子的基因）会在端脑的几个离散区域迅速且短暂地被诱导。这种现象在尾内侧新纹状体（NCM）中最为明显，NCM是一个主要的听觉处理区域。歌曲诱导的zenk已被证明对于研究NCM的功能组织以及表征该脑区中对歌曲有反应的神经元非常有用。结合解剖学和电生理学研究的数据，基因表达分析结果表明，NCM参与了对诸如歌曲等复杂声音的听觉处理，并且可能参与了歌曲听觉记忆的形成和/或存储。因此，NCM似乎在声音交流的感知方面发挥着重要作用，并且可能在鸣禽以及其他声音学习鸟类目（即鹦鹉和蜂鸟）的声音学习过程中发挥作用。
