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CANCELED - Motor circuits for listening and learning

Air date: Monday, March 7, 2016, 12:00:00 PM
Time displayed is Eastern Time, Washington DC Local
Description: NIH Neuroscience Series Seminar

Dr. Mooney lab’s research aims to identify the neural substrates for vocal learning and communication. They use both songbird and rodents to achieve these aims. Songbirds are one of the few non-human animals that learn to vocalize and serve as the preeminent model in which to identify neural mechanisms for vocal learning. The songbird is ideal for this purpose because of its well-described capacity to vocally imitate the songs of other birds, and because its brain has a constellation of discrete, interconnected brain regions (i.e., song control nuclei, referred to collectively as the song system) that function in the patterning, perception, learning and maintenance of song.

They use a wide range of techniques in their research, including in vivo multiphoton neuronal imaging, chronic recording of neural activity in freely behaving animals, in vivo and in vitro intracellular recordings from identified neurons, and manipulation of neuronal activity using either electrical microstimulation or optogenetic methods. Their group also has extensive experience with viral transgenic methods and with behavioral analysis, especially in quantifying acoustic features of vocalizations. Together, these methods provide a broad technical approach to understanding how the brain harnesses sensory information to adaptively modify behavior.
Author: Richard Mooney, Ph.D., Duke University School of Medicine
Runtime: 1 hour