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A mesocortical dopamine circuit enables the cultural transmission of vocal behaviour

Author

Listed:
  • Masashi Tanaka

    (Duke University
    Tohoku University)

  • Fangmiao Sun

    (Peking University School of Life Sciences
    PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research)

  • Yulong Li

    (Peking University School of Life Sciences
    PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research
    Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences)

  • Richard Mooney

    (Duke University)

Abstract

The cultural transmission of behaviour depends on the ability of the pupil to identify and emulate an appropriate tutor1–4. How the brain of the pupil detects a suitable tutor and encodes the behaviour of the tutor is largely unknown. Juvenile zebra finches readily copy the songs of the adult tutors that they interact with, but not the songs that they listen to passively through a speaker5,6, indicating that social cues generated by the tutor facilitate song imitation. Here we show that neurons in the midbrain periaqueductal grey of juvenile finches are selectively excited by a singing tutor and—by releasing dopamine in the cortical song nucleus HVC—help to encode the song representations of the tutor used for vocal copying. Blocking dopamine signalling in the HVC of the pupil during tutoring blocked copying, whereas pairing stimulation of periaqueductal grey terminals in the HVC with a song played through a speaker was sufficient to drive copying. Exposure to a singing tutor triggered the rapid emergence of responses to the tutor song in the HVC of the pupil and a rapid increase in the complexity of the song of the pupil, an early signature of song copying7,8. These findings reveal that a dopaminergic mesocortical circuit detects the presence of a tutor and helps to encode the performance of the tutor, facilitating the cultural transmission of vocal behaviour.

Suggested Citation

  • Masashi Tanaka & Fangmiao Sun & Yulong Li & Richard Mooney, 2018. "A mesocortical dopamine circuit enables the cultural transmission of vocal behaviour," Nature, Nature, vol. 563(7729), pages 117-120, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:563:y:2018:i:7729:d:10.1038_s41586-018-0636-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0636-7
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    Cited by:

    1. Nihaad Paraouty & Justin D. Yao & Léo Varnet & Chi-Ning Chou & SueYeon Chung & Dan H. Sanes, 2023. "Sensory cortex plasticity supports auditory social learning," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Jelena Katic & Yuichi Morohashi & Yoko Yazaki-Sugiyama, 2022. "Neural circuit for social authentication in song learning," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Linda Bistere & Carlos M. Gomez-Guzman & Yirong Xiong & Daniela Vallentin, 2024. "Female calls promote song learning in male juvenile zebra finches," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.

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