Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Holloway, Tiffanie Renee
Author's Email Address	holloway@psy.fsu.edu
URN	etd-06282010-152520
Title	Neural Recovery Following Partial Ablation Reveals Modular Organization of a Brain Region that Encodes Learned Vocal Patterns
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy
Department	Psychology, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Frank Johnson Committee Chair Cathy Levenson Committee Member Colleen Kelley Committee Member Rick Hyson Committee Member Richard Morris University Representative
Keywords	Songbird Immediat Early Genes Basal Ganglia Pre-motor Vocal Recovery Modular Encoding
Date of Defense	2010-06-09
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract In this Dissertation, I describe the affects of altering the integration of two motor pathways (the vocal motor pathway and anterior forebrain pathway) on neural and vocal recovery in the adult male zebra finch. I first detail how damage to a premotor nucleus (HVC) changes the pattern of immediate early gene expression in several regions throughout the song control system. Interestingly I find that the expression pattern observed within HVC reveals a kind of modular organization. Furthermore, I find that although the contribution of the two pathways was transiently influenced by damage to HVC, long term changes were found to occur at the site of integration. Second, I examine how sensory feedback facilitates recovery of immediate early gene expression in song regions, as well as its affects on vocal recovery. Finally, I explore the anatomical organization of nucleus HVC by using a retrograde neuronal tracer. I find that neurons display modular connectivity and are arranged along the rostral/caudal axis of the nucleus. Given that neurons within HVC play a significant role in encoding the learned song pattern, these data provide one of the first pieces of evidence to suggest that HVC is spatially organized.
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