ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2017
Bidirectional manipulation of mTOR signaling disrupts socially mediated vocal learning in juvenile songbirds.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Simultaneous RNA Sequencing and DNA Methylation Profiling Reveals Neural Mechanisms That Regulate Sensitive Period Behavioral Learning.Genes, brain, and behavior · 2025Article
- Avian models for brain mechanisms underlying altered social behavior in autism.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Review
- Understanding autism spectrum disorders with animal models: applications, insights, and perspectives.Zoological research · 2021Review
- Ecotype differences in aggression, neural activity and behaviorally relevant gene expression in cichlid fish.Genes, brain, and behavior · 2020Article
- Article
- Neuroestrogen synthesis modifies neural representations of learned song without altering vocal imitation in developing songbirds.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Gene manipulation to test links between genome, brain and behavior in developing songbirds: a test case.The Journal of experimental biology · 2020Review
- Bilateral brain activity in auditory regions is necessary for successful vocal learning in songbirds.Neuroscience letters · 2020Article
- Inhibitory cell populations depend on age, sex, and prior experience across a neural network for Critical Period learning.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- New concepts in the study of the sexual differentiation and activation of reproductive behavior, a personal view.Frontiers in neuroendocrinology · 2019Review
- β-adrenergic modulation of discrimination learning and memory in the auditory cortex.The European journal of neuroscience · 2019Article
- Rapamycin blocks the neuroprotective effects of sex steroids in the adult birdsong system.Developmental neurobiology · 2019Article
- Neuroestrogens rapidly shape auditory circuits to support communication learning and perception: Evidence from songbirds.Hormones and behavior · 2018Review
- A complex mTOR response in habituation paradigms for a social signal in adult songbirds.Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) · 2018Article
- Regulation of filial imprinting and structural plasticity by mTORC1 in newborn chickens.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Epigenetic regulation of transcriptional plasticity associated with developmental song learning.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2018Article
- Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR): A mediator of social development.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2017Article
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2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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Abstract
Early life experiences can have long-lasting behavioral consequences because they are encoded when the brain is most malleable. The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling cascade modulates experience-dependent synaptic plasticity, among other processes. mTOR has been almost exclusively examined in adult rodent learning models, but may be especially important in organizing neural circuits required for developmental acquisition of meaningful complex behaviors. It is among the most commonly implicated factors in neurodevelopmental autism spectrum disorders (ASD), characterized, in part, by distinct social and communication phenotypes. Here, we investigated mTOR in juvenile zebra finch songbirds. Much as children learn language, young male zebra finches need to interact socially with an adult tutor to learn a meaningful song. The memory of the tutor's song structure guides the juvenile's own song, which it uses to communicate for the rest of its life. We hypothesized that mTOR is required for juveniles to learn song. To this end, we first discovered that hearing song activates mTOR signaling in a brain area required for tutor song memorization in males old enough to copy song but not in younger males or females, who cannot sing. We then showed that both inhibition and constitutive activation of mTOR during tutor experiences significantly diminished tutor song copying. Finally, we found that constitutive mTOR activation lowered a behavioral measure of the juvenile's social engagement during tutor experiences, mirroring the relationship in humans. These studies therefore advance understanding about the effects of experience in the context of neurodevelopmental disorders and typical neural development.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.