Bird song learning via social validation

Katic et al. with Yoko Yazaki-Sugiyama’s group at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) used NeuroNexus chronic 16-channel probes (Buzsaki16-CM16LP) and optoelectrodes (Buzsaki16-OCM16LP) to study validation of social information during song learning in freely behaving juvenile zebra finches. The dense Buzsaki-style layout enabled spike sorting of 352 neurons in 12 birds. Single-unit recordings in the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM) and optogenetic inhibition in locus coeruleus (LC) revealed that increased LC activity during social interactions promotes NCM responses to encode song learning.