多巴胺系统调控鸣禽鸣唱相关神经核团及鸣唱行为

鸣禽的鸣唱与人类的语言产生相似,是一种复杂的习得性行为.因此,鸣禽可以作为研究人类语言学习与产生的重要模式动物.鸣禽鸣唱受到相互联系的鸣唱控制核团调控.多巴胺作为脑内重要的神经递质,参与调控哺乳动物多种活动.多巴胺及其受体在鸣禽鸣唱相关神经核团大量分布.近期研究表明,多巴胺通过调控鸣唱相关核团,促进鸣禽幼年期鸣曲学习、成年期鸣曲保持以及求偶性鸣唱的产生.本文结合本课题组的研究工作,对近年鸣禽多巴胺系统调控鸣唱相关神经核团及鸣唱行为的研究进展进行了综述,并提出了多巴胺信号调控鸣禽鸣唱学习行为的潜在机制.

Dopamine System Modulates Song-related Nucleus and Song Behavior in Songbirds

Songbird is one of the few animals with complex phonological learning ability except human. The song of a songbird is similar to the production of human language. Using songbirds as models, the comparative physiology study provides important insights into the neural mechanisms that regulate language sequences and language learning and production in humans.The singing of songbirds is regulated by the interrelated singing control nuclei. Dopamine, an important neurotransmitter in the brain, is involved in the regulation of movement, cognition, motivation, reward, addiction and learning in mammals, it has been linked to Parkinson''s disease, schizophrenia and Huntington''s syndrome in humans. DA is a key substance in the brain that regulates learning and motivation. In songbirds, dopamine and its receptors are found in a large number of singing-related nuclei. In addition, recent studies have shown that dopamine promotes songbird song learning in juvenile stage, song retention in adulthood, and song production in courtship by regulating the singing-related nuclei. Based on the research of our work , this paper reviews the research progress in the regulation of the dopamine system on the singing-related nuclei and singing behavior of songbirds, the potential mechanism of dopamine signal regulating singing behavior of songbirds was proposed.