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Poster De Conférence Année : 2011

Linking social and vocal brains: social withdrawal prevents a proper development of the central primary auditory area in a female songbird

Hugo Cousillas
Isabelle George
Laurence Henry
Martine Hausberger

Résumé

Direct social contact and social interaction affect both speech development in human infants and song learning in songbirds, and are required in order to maintain perceptual abilities. However, the processes involved are still poorly known. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that social withdrawal would prevent the proper development of a central auditory area, using an established animal model of vocal development, a songbird. Based on our knowledge of European starlings' vocal behaviour and development, we raised young female starlings with peers and adult male tutors only. This ensured that these females would show neither social bond with nor vocal copying from males. Electrophysiological recordings performed when these females were adult revealed perceptual abnormalities: they presented a larger auditory area, a lower proportion of specialized neurons and a larger proportion of generalist sites than wild-caught females, whereas these characteristics were similar to those observed in socially deprived (physically isolated) females. These results confirmed, and added to, earlier results for males, suggesting that the degree of perceptual deficiency reflects the degree of social withdrawal. To our knowledge, this report constitutes the first evidence that the lack of social interactions can, as much as physical separation, alter the development of a central auditory area.
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Dates et versions

hal-01321993 , version 1 (26-05-2016)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-01321993 , version 1

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Hugo Cousillas, Isabelle George, Laurence Henry, Jean-Pierre Richard, Martine Hausberger. Linking social and vocal brains: social withdrawal prevents a proper development of the central primary auditory area in a female songbird. 10th Meeting of the French Neuroscience Society, May 2011, Marseille, France. ⟨hal-01321993⟩
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