Psychology Commons^™

Brain Estrogens Rapidly Strengthen Auditory Encoding And Guide Song Preference In A Songbird, Luke Remage_Healey, M. J. Colemand, R. K. Oyamaa, B. A. Schlinger

Luke Remage-Healey

Higher cognitive function depends on accurate detection and processing of subtle features of sensory stimuli. Such precise computations require neural circuits to be modulated over rapid timescales, yet this modulation is poorly understood. Brain-derived steroids (neurosteroids) can act as fast signaling molecules in the vertebrate central nervous system and could therefore modulate sensory processing and guide behavior, but there is no empirical evidence for this possibility. Here we report that acute inhibition of estrogen production within a cortical-like region involved in complex auditory processing disrupts a songbird’s ability to behaviorally respond to song stimuli. Identical manipulation of local estrogen levels …