Testosterone increases cell turnover in song nucleus HVC and increases cell recruitment into Area X of adult female canaries.

In songbirds, song control nuclei such as HVC and Area X, show seasonal changes in volume that are regulated, at least in part, by the action of gonadal testosterone (T) and its metabolites. These changes in volume are a result of changes in cell size, dendritic branching and, in HVC, the incorporation of newborn neurons. Doublecortin (DCX) is a microtubule-associated protein expressed during development and in adulthood in post-mitotic migrating and differentiating neurons in mammals. Our previous studies in male canaries demonstrated that DCX is expressed in BrdU-positive neurons consistent with DCX being a marker of neurogenesis in adult canaries. Testosterone induces marked increases in song nuclei volume in adult female canaries making these nuclei more male-like. Within the songbird brain, T can be metabolized to 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and 17 beta-estradiol (E2). We found previously that both these metabolites are required to increase the volume of song nuclei in adult female canaries, but the cellular basis of this adult neuroplasticity is not well understood. Within HVC, the number of DCX-immunoreactive (ir) cells can be increased by photostimulation or treatment with T, but the effects of T and its metabolites on cell death in the songbird brain had not yet been elucidated. We therefore examined the effect of DHT and E2 on DCX expression and cell death in the song nuclei of adult female canaries. Intact female canaries were implanted with Silastic tubing containing crystalline T, DHT, E2, or a combination of DHT+E2. Control animals received empty implants. All birds were kept under early spring-like photoperiodic conditions (11L:13D) for 3 weeks. In HVC, the total number of DCX-ir cells was increased by treatment with T or DHT+E2 as compared to control birds, but was not affected by treatment with DHT or E2 alone. The number of pyknotic cells observed in the HVC was also increased by T but not by its metabolites. In Area X, the total number of DCX-ir cells was increased by treatment with T or DHT+E2, but the number of pyknotic cells was unaffected by hormone treatment. These results suggest that T enhances cellular turnover in the HVC (migration into, and cell death within, HVC), but affects only recruitment of new neurons into Area X.