University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620-7200, USA.
Soc Neurosci. 2009;4(1):28-39. doi: 10.1080/17470910801936803.
The immediate early gene zenk encodes transcriptional regulators and is believed to be one of the first steps in the formation of long-term memories associated with a given stimulus. In this study, we investigated the expression of ZENK protein product in brain regions that are likely involved in the processing of social stimuli, such as a potential mate. Male pigeons (Columba livia) were exposed to one of the following: (1) a live female pigeon, (2) a video playback of a female pigeon, (3) a video playback of a female cockatoo, or (4) an empty stimulus chamber. The brains were then processed immunohistochemically using an antibody against ZENK protein. When the stimulus was a live pigeon compared to all other stimuli, there were more numerous and more darkly-stained ZENK-positive cells in three "association" regions of the telencephalon: the hyperpallium apicale, the lateral portion of the intermediate nidopallium, and the medial nidopallium. There were no significant differences among the video-playback stimuli. The results suggest that the level of ZENK expression in these "association" regions was influenced not only by the visual presence of a potential mate, but by the presence of non-visual signals, the quality of the image, and the real-time interaction with the stimulus.
立即早期基因 zenk 编码转录调节剂，被认为是与特定刺激相关的长期记忆形成的第一步。在这项研究中，我们研究了大脑中可能参与处理社交刺激（如潜在配偶）的区域中 ZENK 蛋白产物的表达。雄性鸽子（Columba livia）暴露于以下情况之一：（1）一只活的雌性鸽子，（2）一只雌性鸽子的视频播放，（3）一只雌性凤头鹦鹉的视频播放，或（4）一个空的刺激室。然后使用针对 ZENK 蛋白的抗体对大脑进行免疫组织化学处理。当刺激是一只活的鸽子与所有其他刺激相比时，在端脑的三个“关联”区域中，有更多数量和更深染色的 ZENK 阳性细胞：背侧顶叶，中间神经层的外侧部分，以及内侧神经层。视频播放刺激之间没有显着差异。结果表明，这些“关联”区域中 ZENK 表达水平不仅受到潜在配偶的视觉存在的影响，还受到非视觉信号、图像质量和与刺激的实时交互的影响。
