Steroid-dependent plasticity in the song control system: Perineuronal nets and HVC neurogenesis.

Canary; HVC; Neurogenesis; Perineuronal nets; Song crystallization; Testosterone; X-ray irradiation; Zebra finch; Animals; Neurons; Neuronal Plasticity/physiology; Neurogenesis/physiology; Extracellular Matrix; Vocalization, Animal/physiology; Songbirds/physiology; Neuronal Plasticity; Songbirds; Vocalization, Animal; Endocrine and Autonomic Systems

Abstract :

[en] The vocal control nucleus HVC in songbirds has emerged as a widespread model system to study adult brain plasticity in response to changes in the hormonal and social environment. I review here studies completed in my laboratory during the last decade that concern two aspects of this plasticity: changes in aggregations of extracellular matrix components surrounding the soma of inhibitory parvalbumin-positive neurons called perineuronal nets (PNN) and the production/incorporation of new neurons. Both features are modulated by the season, age, sex and endocrine status of the birds in correlation with changes in song structure and stability. Causal studies have also investigated the role of PNN and of new neurons in the control of song. Dissolving PNN with chondroitinase sulfate, a specific enzyme applied directly on HVC or depletion of new neurons by focalized X-ray irradiation both affected song structure but the amplitude of changes was limited and deserves further investigations.

Disciplines :

Zoology
Neurology
Zoology

Author, co-author :

Balthazart, Jacques ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences biomédicales et précliniques

Language :

English

Title :

Steroid-dependent plasticity in the song control system: Perineuronal nets and HVC neurogenesis.

Publication date :

October 2023

Journal title :

Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology

ISSN :

0091-3022

eISSN :

1095-6808

Publisher :

Academic Press Inc., United States

Volume :

Pages :

101097

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0091302223000456?httpAccept=text/xml

Funders :

UMB - University of Maryland Baltimore
ULiège - Université de Liège
NINDS - National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Funding text :

This review is dedicated to my colleague and friend Gian Carlo Panzica who was a truthful and effective collaborator for over 35 years. He passed away to soon and this review summarizes the talk that I presented during a mini-symposium organized in his honor by Roberto Melcangi who co-organized with him the series of meetings on “Steroids in the Nervous System” that took place in Torino almost every second year since 2001. I was invited and attended each and every one of them. Research described in this review was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (Grant RO1NS104008). The experimental work summarized here was carried out with the help of multiple PhD students and post docs that cannot be all cited but include as contributing the most: Gilles Cornez, Olesya Shevchouk and Géradine Boseret (PhD students), and Jennifer Barker, Ednei Barros dos Santos, Ioana Chiver and Shelley Valle (post docs). Song analysis was carried out in part with a MATLAB routine generously provided by Ed Smith and Robert Dooling (University of Maryland). This research also benefited from extensive intellectual interactions with my two long-term collaborators Charlotte A. Cornil (University of Liège) and Gregory F. Ball (University of Maryland).Research described in this review was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (Grant RO1NS104008). The experimental work summarized here was carried out with the help of multiple PhD students and post docs that cannot be all cited but include as contributing the most: Gilles Cornez, Olesya Shevchouk and Géradine Boseret (PhD students), and Jennifer Barker, Ednei Barros dos Santos, Ioana Chiver and Shelley Valle (post docs). Song analysis was carried out in part with a MATLAB routine generously provided by Ed Smith and Robert Dooling (University of Maryland). This research also benefited from extensive intellectual interactions with my two long-term collaborators Charlotte A. Cornil (University of Liège) and Gregory F. Ball (University of Maryland).

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