Experience-Dependent Plasticity in Nucleus Laminaris of the Barn Owl

The barn owl in systems and behavioral neuroscience: Progress and promise

Though well-adapted to their evolutionary niches, animals exhibit a repertoire of behavioral functions that are common across species. Neuroscientific research that promotes the study of similar functions in multiple species, can illuminate shared versus specialized design features of the nervous system, revealing potentially profound insights into the neural basis of behavior and cognition. Here, we advance the idea that the barn owl is an excellent animal model in which to investigate such common functions. We do so by drawing attention to the range of exciting questions that can be asked in the owl beyond those deriving from its evolutionary specializations, by underscoring the variety of complex yet experimentally tractable behaviors it exhibits naturally, by emphasizing its complex network of brain systems, and by highlighting emerging opportunities for the application of modern neural technologies. Our goal is to motivate broader adoption of the powerful barn owl model for behavioral and systems neuroscience.

Ambient sound stimulation tunes axonal conduction velocity by regulating radial growth of myelin on an individual, axon-by-axon basis

Adaptive myelination is the emerging concept of tuning axonal conduction velocity to the activity within specific neural circuits over time. Sound processing circuits exhibit structural and functional specifications to process signals with microsecond precision: a time scale that is amenable to adjustment in length and thickness of myelin. Increasing activity of auditory axons by introducing sound-evoked responses during postnatal development enhances myelin thickness, while sensory deprivation prevents such radial growth during development. When deprivation occurs during adulthood, myelin thickness was reduced. However, it is unclear whether sensory stimulation adjusts myelination in a global fashion (whole fiber bundles) or whether such adaptation occurs at the level of individual fibers. Using temporary monaural deprivation in mice provided an internal control for a) differentially tracing structural changes in active and deprived fibers and b) for monitoring neural activity in response to acoustic stimulation of the control and the deprived ear within the same animal. The data show that sound-evoked activity increased the number of myelin layers around individual active axons, even when located in mixed bundles of active and deprived fibers. Thicker myelination correlated with faster axonal conduction velocity and caused shorter auditory brainstem response wave VI-I delays, providing a physiologically relevant readout. The lack of global compensation emphasizes the importance of balanced sensory experience in both ears throughout the lifespan of an individual.