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Protti-Sánchez F, Corrales Parada CD, Mayer U, Rowland HM. Activation of the Nucleus Taeniae of the Amygdala by Umami Taste in Domestic Chicks ( Gallus gallus). Front Physiol 2022; 13:897931. [PMID: 35694389 PMCID: PMC9178096 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.897931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In chickens, the sense of taste plays an important role in detecting nutrients and choosing feed. The molecular mechanisms underlying the taste-sensing system of chickens are well studied, but the neural mechanisms underlying taste reactivity have received less attention. Here we report the short-term taste behaviour of chickens towards umami and bitter (quinine) taste solutions and the associated neural activity in the nucleus taeniae of the amygdala, nucleus accumbens and lateral septum. We found that chickens had more contact with and drank greater volumes of umami than bitter or a water control, and that chicks displayed increased head shaking in response to bitter compared to the other tastes. We found that there was a higher neural activity, measured as c-Fos activation, in response to umami taste in the right hemisphere of the nucleus taeniae of the amygdala. In the left hemisphere, there was a higher c-Fos activation of the nucleus taeniae of the amygdala in response to bitter than in the right hemisphere. Our findings provide clear evidence that chickens respond differently to umami and bitter tastes, that there is a lateralised response to tastes at the neural level, and reveals a new function of the avian nucleus taeniae of the amygdala as a region processing reward information.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Uwe Mayer
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
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Polzin BJ, Heimovics SA, Riters LV. Immunolabeling Provides Evidence for Subregions in the Songbird Nucleus Accumbens and Suggests a Context-Dependent Role in Song in Male European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2022; 96:147-162. [PMID: 34879382 DOI: 10.1159/000521310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Birdsong is well known for its role in mate attraction during the breeding season. However, many birds, including European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), also sing outside the breeding season as part of large flocks. Song in a breeding context can be extrinsically rewarded by mate attraction; however, song in nonbreeding flocks, referred to here as gregarious song, results in no obvious extrinsic reward and is proposed to be intrinsically rewarded. The nucleus accumbens (NAC) is a brain region well known to mediate reward and motivation, which suggests it is an ideal candidate to regulate reward associated with gregarious song. The goal of this study was to provide new histochemical information on the songbird NAC and its subregions (rostral pole, core, and shell) and to begin to determine subregion-specific contributions to gregarious song in male starlings. We examined immunolabeling for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), neurotensin, and enkephalin (ENK) in the NAC. We then examined the extent to which gregarious and sexually motivated song differentially correlated with immunolabeling for the immediate early genes FOS and ZENK in each subdivision of the NAC. We found that TH and ENK labeling within subregions of the starling NAC was generally similar to patterns seen in the core and shell of NACs in mammals and birds. Additionally, we found that gregarious song, but not sexually motivated song, positively correlated with FOS in all NAC subregions. Our observations provide further evidence for distinct subregions within the songbird NAC and suggest the NAC may play an important role in regulating gregarious song in songbirds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon J Polzin
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Sarah A Heimovics
- Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Lauren V Riters
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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Xu W, Wang L, Yuan XS, Wang TX, Li WX, Qu WM, Hong ZY, Huang ZL. Sevoflurane depresses neurons in the medial parabrachial nucleus by potentiating postsynaptic GABA A receptors and background potassium channels. Neuropharmacology 2020; 181:108249. [PMID: 32931816 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2020.108249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2020] [Revised: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Despite persistent clinical use for over 170 years, the neuronal mechanisms by which general anesthetics produce hypnosis remain unclear. Previous studies suggest that anesthetics exert hypnotic effects by acting on endogenous arousal circuits. Recently, it has been shown that the medial parabrachial nucleus (MPB) is a novel wake-promoting component in the dorsolateral pons. However, it is not known whether and how the MPB contributes to anesthetic-induced hypnosis. Here, we investigated the action of sevoflurane, a widely used volatile anesthetic agent that best represents the drug class of halogenated ethers, on MPB neurons in mice. Using in vivo fiber photometry, we found that the population activities of MPB neurons were inhibited during sevoflurane-induced loss of consciousness. Using in vitro whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, we revealed that sevoflurane suppressed the firing rate of MPB neurons in concentration-dependent and reversible manners. At a concentration equal to MAC of hypnosis, sevoflurane potentiated synaptic GABAA receptors (GABAA-Rs), and the inhibitory effect of sevoflurane on the firing rate of MPB neurons was completely abolished by picrotoxin, which is a selective GABAA-R antagonist. At a concentration equivalent to MAC of immobility, sevoflurane directly hyperpolarized MPB neurons and induced a significant decrease in membrane input resistance by increasing a basal potassium conductance. Moreover, pharmacological blockade of GABAA-Rs in the MPB prolongs induction and shortens emergence under sevoflurane inhalation at MAC of hypnosis. These results indicate that sevoflurane inhibits MPB neurons through postsynaptic GABAA-Rs and background potassium channels, which contributes to sevoflurane-induced hypnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Xu
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences; State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, and Institutes of Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Lu Wang
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences; State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, and Institutes of Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiang-Shan Yuan
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences; State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, and Institutes of Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Tian-Xiao Wang
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences; State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, and Institutes of Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wen-Xian Li
- Department of Anesthesiology, The Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wei-Min Qu
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences; State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, and Institutes of Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zong-Yuan Hong
- Laboratory of Quantitative Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, China
| | - Zhi-Li Huang
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences; State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, and Institutes of Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
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Perez EC, Meurisse M, Hervé L, Georgelin M, Constantin P, Cornilleau F, Love SA, Lévy F, Calandreau L, Bertin A. Object and food novelty induce distinct patterns of c-fos immunoreactivity in amygdala and striatum in domestic male chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus). Behav Brain Res 2020; 381:112453. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2019] [Revised: 12/06/2019] [Accepted: 12/23/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Bruce LL, Erichsen JT, Reiner A. Neurochemical compartmentalization within the pigeon basal ganglia. J Chem Neuroanat 2016; 78:65-86. [PMID: 27562515 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2016.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2016] [Revised: 08/15/2016] [Accepted: 08/16/2016] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The goals of this study were to use multiple informative markers to define and characterize the neurochemically distinct compartments of the pigeon basal ganglia, especially striatum and accumbens. To this end, we used antibodies against 12 different neuropeptides, calcium-binding proteins or neurotransmitter-related enzymes that are enriched in the basal ganglia. Our results clarify boundaries between previously described basal ganglia subdivisions in birds, and reveal considerable novel heterogeneity within these previously described subdivisions. Sixteen regions were identified that each displayed a unique neurochemical organization. Four compartments were identified within the dorsal striatal region. The neurochemical characteristics support previous comparisons to part of the central extended amygdala, somatomotor striatum, and associational striatum of mammals, respectively. The medialmost part of the medial striatum, however, has several unique features, including prominent pallidal-like woolly fibers and thus may be a region unique to birds. Four neurochemically distinct regions were identified within the pigeon ventral striatum: the accumbens, paratubercular striatum, ventrocaudal striatum, and the ventral area of the lateral part of the medial striatum that is located adjacent to these regions. The pigeon accumbens is neurochemically similar to the mammalian rostral accumbens. The pigeon paratubercular and ventrocaudal striatal regions are similar to the mammalian accumbens shell. The ventral portions of the medial and lateral parts of the medial striatum, which are located adjacent to accumbens shell-like areas, have neurochemical characteristics as well as previously reported limbic connections that are comparable to the accumbens core. Comparisons to neurochemically identified compartments in reptiles, mammals, and amphibians indicate that, although most of the basic compartments of the basal ganglia were highly conserved during tetrapod evolution, uniquely avian compartments may exist as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura L Bruce
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University, Omaha NE, 68178, USA.
| | | | - Anton Reiner
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
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