日本動物学会北海道支部　第564回支部講演会

日時：2016年3月22日（火）11:00〜12:00

場所：北海道大学理学部5号館407号室

演者：矢崎-杉山　陽子（OIST　沖縄科学技術大学院大学)
演題：Early auditory experience shapes neuronal circuits to form auditory memories in zebra finch song learning

講演要旨

Sensory experiences during early life intensively shape neuronal circuits during well-timed windows of brain development, called the critical periods, which would contribute to higher cognitive function, such as learning. In mammalian visual and auditory cortexes, experience-dependent inhibitory circuit maturation regulates timing and plasticity of critical periods. We have been studying whether this principle can be applied to plasticity while songbirds are learning to sing. Recently, we identified neurons that show selective responses to learned tutor songs in the higher-level auditory cortex of zebra finches. Moreover, blockade of GABAergic inhibition decreased the selectivity of these neurons. We will discuss how inhibitory circuits regulate zebra finch song learning, and possible conserved neuronal mechanisms of sensory experience-dependent neuronal plasticity across systems.