Publication
Title
Uncovering a 'sensitive window' of multisensory and motor neuroplasticity in the cerebrum and cerebellum of male and female starlings
Author
Abstract
Traditionally, research unraveling seasonal neuroplasticity in songbirds has focused on the male song control system and testosterone. We longitudinally monitored the song behavior and neuroplasticity in male and female starlings during multiple photoperiods using Diffusion Tensor and Fixel-Based techniques. These exploratory data-driven whole-brain methods resulted in a population-based tractogram confirming microstructural sexual dimorphisms in the song control system. Furthermore, male brains showed hemispheric asymmetries in the pallium, whereas females had higher interhemispheric connectivity, which could not be attributed to brain size differences. Only females with large brains sing but differ from males in their song behavior by showing involvement of the hippocampus. Both sexes experienced multisensory neuroplasticity in the song control, auditory and visual system, and cerebellum, mainly during the photosensitive period. This period with low gonadal hormone levels might represent a `sensitive window' during which different sensory and motor systems in the cerebrum and cerebellum can be seasonally reshaped in both sexes.
Language
English
Source (journal)
eLife
Publication
2021
ISSN
2050-084X
DOI
10.7554/ELIFE.66777
Volume/pages
10 (2021) , 36 p.
Article Reference
e66777
ISI
000665525900001
Pubmed ID
34096502
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Hormones and neuroplasticity: image guided discoveries of molecular mechanisms in neuroplasticity (PLASTOSCINE).
Unraveling the interaction between testosterone and thyroid hormones and their impact on seasonal changes in the songbird brain.
Unraveling the effect of thyroid hormones on seasonal neuroplasticity in the song control system of adult songbirds.
Seasonal neuroplasticity of visual and auditory system integration: an in vivo MRI study in starling.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 30.07.2021
Last edited 02.10.2024
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