Sound-generating (sonic) motor system in a teleost fish (Porichthys notatus): Sexual polymorphisms and general synaptology of sonic motor nucleus

1989 ◽  
Vol 286 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew H. Bass ◽  
Margaret A. Marchaterre
2015 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary N. Ghahramani ◽  
Miky Timothy ◽  
Gurpreet Kaur ◽  
Michelle Gorbonosov ◽  
Alena Chernenko ◽  
...  

Catecholamines, which include the neurotransmitters dopamine and noradrenaline, are known modulators of sensorimotor function, reproduction, and sexually motivated behaviors across vertebrates, including vocal-acoustic communication. Recently, we demonstrated robust catecholaminergic (CA) innervation throughout the vocal motor system in the plainfin midshipman fish Porichthys notatus, a seasonal breeding marine teleost that produces vocal signals for social communication. There are 2 distinct male reproductive morphs in this species: type I males establish nests and court females with a long-duration advertisement call, while type II males sneak spawn to steal fertilizations from type I males. Like females, type II males can only produce brief, agonistic, grunt type vocalizations. Here, we tested the hypothesis that intrasexual differences in the number of CA neurons and their fiber innervation patterns throughout the vocal motor pathway may provide neural substrates underlying divergence in reproductive behavior between morphs. We employed immunofluorescence (-ir) histochemistry to measure tyrosine hydroxylase (TH; a rate-limiting enzyme in catecholamine synthesis) neuron numbers in several forebrain and hindbrain nuclei as well as TH-ir fiber innervation throughout the vocal pathway in type I and type II males collected from nests during the summer reproductive season. After controlling for differences in body size, only one group of CA neurons displayed an unequivocal difference between male morphs: the extraventricular vagal-associated TH-ir neurons, located just lateral to the dimorphic vocal motor nucleus (VMN), were significantly greater in number in type II males. In addition, type II males exhibited greater TH-ir fiber density within the VMN and greater numbers of TH-ir varicosities with putative contacts on vocal motor neurons. This strong inverse relationship between the predominant vocal morphotype and the CA innervation of vocal motor neurons suggests that catecholamines may function to inhibit vocal output in midshipman. These findings support catecholamines as direct modulators of vocal behavior, and differential CA input appears reflective of social and reproductive behavioral divergence between male midshipman morphs.


2013 ◽  
Vol 216 (15) ◽  
pp. 2821-2832 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Bucking ◽  
C. M. R. LeMoine ◽  
P. M. Craig ◽  
P. J. Walsh

2007 ◽  
Vol 86 (11) ◽  
pp. 1073-1077 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Koizumi ◽  
K. Nomura ◽  
K. Ishihama ◽  
T. Yamanishi ◽  
A. Enomoto ◽  
...  

The trigeminal motor system is involved in many rhythmic oral-motor behaviors, such as suckling, mastication, swallowing, and breathing. Despite the obvious importance of functional coordination among these rhythmic activities, the system is not well-understood. In the present study, we examined the hypothesis that an interaction between suckling and breathing exists in the brainstem, by studying the respiratory activity in trigeminal motoneurons (TMNs) during fictive suckling using a neonatal rat in vitro brainstem preparation. The results showed that fictive suckling, which was neurochemically induced by bath application of N-methyl-D,L-aspartate and bicuculline-methiodide, or by local micro-injection of the same drugs to the trigeminal motor nucleus, inhibited the inspiratory activities in both respiration TMNs and respiratory rhythm-generating neurons. Under patch-clamp recording, fictive suckling caused membrane potential hyperpolarization of respiration TMNs. We conclude that the brainstem preparation contains an inhibitory circuit for respiratory activity in the trigeminal motor system via the rhythm-generating network for suckling. Abbreviations: BIC, bicuculline methiodide; GABA, gamma aminobutyric acid; NMA, N-methyl-D,L-aspartate; NMDA, N-methyl-D-aspartate; and TMN, trigeminal motoneuron.


2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian G.G. Pengra ◽  
Margaret A. Marchaterre ◽  
Andrew H. Bass

Motivated by studies of speech deficits in humans, several studies over the past two decades have investigated the potential role of a forkhead domain transcription factor, FoxP2, in the central control of acoustic signaling/vocalization among vertebrates. Comparative neuroanatomical studies that mainly include mammalian and avian species have mapped the distribution of FoxP2 expression in multiple brain regions that imply a greater functional significance beyond vocalization that might be shared broadly across vertebrate lineages. To date, reports for teleost fish have been limited in number and scope to nonvocal species. Here, we map the neuroanatomical distribution of FoxP2 mRNA expression in a highly vocal teleost, the plainfin midshipman (Porichthys notatus). We report an extensive overlap between FoxP2 expression and vocal, auditory, and steroid-signaling systems with robust expression at multiple sites in the telencephalon, the preoptic area, the diencephalon, and the midbrain. Label was far more restricted in the hindbrain though robust in one region of the reticular formation. A comparison with other teleosts and tetrapods suggests an evolutionarily conserved FoxP2 phenotype important to vocal-acoustic and, more broadly, sensorimotor function among vertebrates.


Author(s):  
Markus Krüger ◽  
Horst Krist

Abstract. Recent studies have ascertained a link between the motor system and imagery in children. A motor effect on imagery is demonstrated by the influence of stimuli-related movement constraints (i. e., constraints defined by the musculoskeletal system) on mental rotation, or by interference effects due to participants’ own body movements or body postures. This link is usually seen as qualitatively different or stronger in children as opposed to adults. In the present research, we put this interpretation to further scrutiny using a new paradigm: In a motor condition we asked our participants (kindergartners and third-graders) to manually rotate a circular board with a covered picture on it. This condition was compared with a perceptual condition where the board was rotated by an experimenter. Additionally, in a pure imagery condition, children were instructed to merely imagine the rotation of the board. The children’s task was to mark the presumed end position of a salient detail of the respective picture. The children’s performance was clearly the worst in the pure imagery condition. However, contrary to what embodiment theories would suggest, there was no difference in participants’ performance between the active rotation (i. e., motor) and the passive rotation (i. e., perception) condition. Control experiments revealed that this was also the case when, in the perception condition, gaze shifting was controlled for and when the board was rotated mechanically rather than by the experimenter. Our findings indicate that young children depend heavily on external support when imagining physical events. Furthermore, they indicate that motor-assisted imagery is not generally superior to perceptually driven dynamic imagery.


2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Waszak ◽  
S. Schuetz-Bosbach ◽  
C. Weiss ◽  
L. Ticini

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