Brain Zebra

[Hortense Malovich]

Explorethe expression patterns of genes highlighted in published songbird studies. Discover links between genes, brain organization, seasonality, sex dimorphism, steroid regulation, neuronal plasticity, vocal learning, neurogenesis, and more.

The stereotaxic atlas of the brain of the zebra finch originally was carried out atthe University of Bielefeld (Germany) in the lab of Professor Bischof (LehrstuhlVerhaltensforschung). A variety of resources available at that time when the atlaswas made, helped to name brain nuclei, areas and laminae. Especially, a copy ofanother as yet unpublished zebra finch brain atlas, made by Eugene Akutagawa in thelab of Professor Konishi, helped to reduce uncertainties concerning theidentification of neuronal structures. Our atlas of the zebra finch brain wasspecifically designed to locate visual nuclei and areas such as the Nucleus Rotundusand the Ectostriatum, now termed the Entopallial nucleus, because the nomenclaturefor avian brain structure has been revised (Reiner et al., 2004). Xerox copies ofthe original version of the stereotaxic atlas of the brain of the zebra finch withthe old terminology have been around for many years in various laboratories that areparticularly interested in the visual system of the zebra finch. But the atlas hasbecome also very popular for those groups that are working in the song system ofbirds.

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We describe a set of new comprehensive, high-quality, high-resolution digital images of histological sections from the brain of male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) and make them publicly available through an interactive website ( ). These images provide a basis for the production of a dimensionally accurate and detailed digital nonstereotaxic atlas. Nissl- and myelin-stained brain sections are provided in the transverse, sagittal, and horizontal planes, with the transverse plane approximating the more traditional Frankfurt plane. In addition, a separate set of brain sections in this same plane is stained for tyrosine hydroxylase, revealing the distribution of catecholaminergic neurons (dopaminergic, noradrenergic, and adrenergic) in the songbird brain. For a subset of sagittal sections we also prepared a corresponding set of drawings, defining and annotating various nuclei, fields, and fiber tracts that are visible under Nissl and myelin staining. This atlas of the zebra finch brain is expected to become an important tool for birdsong research and comparative studies of brain organization and evolution.

The zebra sign has been termed to describe the finding of layering of blood in amongst the folia of the cerebellum as seen on CT brain, particularly in the setting of supratentorial surgeries (temporal lobe resection), neuro-vascular neck surgeries, lumbar spinal surgeries possibly secondary to dural tear and interpreted as remote cerebellar hemorrhage 1-3.

The molecular causes and mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases remain poorly understood. A growing number of single-cell studies have implicated various neural, glial, and immune cell subtypes to affect the mammalian central nervous system in many age-related disorders. Integrating this body of transcriptomic evidence into a comprehensive and reproducible framework poses several computational challenges. Here, we introduce ZEBRA, a large single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-seq database. ZEBRA integrates and normalizes gene expression and metadata from 33 studies, encompassing 4.2 million human and mouse brain cells sampled from 39 brain regions. It incorporates samples from patients with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Multiple sclerosis, as well as samples from relevant mouse models. We employed scVI, a deep probabilistic auto-encoder model, to integrate the samples and curated both cell and sample metadata for downstream analysis. ZEBRA allows for cell-type and disease-specific markers to be explored and compared between sample conditions and brain regions, a cell composition analysis, and gene-wise feature mappings. Our comprehensive molecular database facilitates the generation of data-driven hypotheses, enhancing our understanding of mammalian brain function during aging and disease. The data sets, along with an interactive database are freely available at -saarland.de/zebra.

Neuroanatomical research is undergoing major change, driven by the availability of automated scanning microscopes, ability to digitally store and analyze tera/petabyte scale data sets, and to make these high resolution images available through the internet. Here we present the first high resolution Nissl stained digital images of the brain of the zebra finch, which is the mainstay of songbird research.

The zebra finch has proven to be the most widely used model organism for the study of the neurological and behavioral development of birdsong. A unique strength of this research area is its integrative nature, encompassing field studies and ethologically grounded behavioral biology, as well as neurophysiological and molecular levels of analysis. The availability of dimensionally accurate and detailed atlases and photographs of the brain of male and female animals, as well as of the brain during development, can be expected to play an important role in this research program. Traditionally, atlases for the zebra finch brain have only been available in printed format, with the limitation of low image resolution of the cell stained sections.

Researchers at the University of Chicago have demonstrated, for the first time, that a key protein complex in the brain is linked to the ability of young animals to learn behavioral patterns from adults.

The results have implications for efforts to understand how early-life experiences affect brain function and behavior, including potentially providing new insight into children affected by neurodevelopmental disorders. Disruptions related to mTOR have been associated with autism spectrum disorders in humans.

Some unusual features of zebra finches are particularly helpful in linking developmental traits with learning ability. Only the male birds can learn to sing, and juvenile zebra finches learn one song from an adult during a specific period of their development. They then use the memory of that song to guide production of the unique song they sing for the rest of their lives.

For the study, the researchers first confirmed the mTOR cascade was present in the brain of a juvenile zebra finch, and then established the cascade was activated in the auditory forebrain when a bird heard a song. They next demonstrated that temporarily pharmacologically inhibiting or enhancing mTOR activation in the auditory forebrain directly diminished the ability of the bird to copy song from an adult tutor.

Besides the developmental implications, London noted that the content of zebra finch songs is socially meaningful. Female zebra finches have different neural and behavioral responses based on the properties of the songs they hear, and previous studies have shown that males who sing poorly structured songs are not preferred as mates. Disruptions that affect song structure therefore have long-term consequences, London said.

Copyright: 2005 Public Library of Science. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Michale Fee's lab studies the neural basis of song learning in the zebra finch, the organism of choice for birdsong researchers. In a new study, Bence lveczky, Aaron Andalman, and Fee study just how young songbirds generate the vocal explorations that help the apprentice master its song.

Two major neural pathways control zebra finch song. The motor pathway controls vocal outputs through the RA (for robust nucleus of the arcopallium) neuron cluster, which indirectly stimulates vocal and respiratory muscles. When adult birds sing, RA neurons show a signature sequence of bursts during each syllable. Another pathway, called the anterior forebrain pathway (AFP), appears to be critical for song learning. AFP shares characteristics with the mammalian basal ganglia, which regulates movement and motor learning in mammals.

On Monday the 7th of July, I was preparing to leave for Archers Post to pick a student who was coming to assist me with lion scat analysis, when I received a phone call from Abdi Sukuna, the Senior Sergeant of Buffalo Springs. Abdi informed me that a dead cheetah had been sighted in the reserve and requested me to investigate the situation. Accompanied by Paul Thomson from the African Wildlife Foundation, who was visiting for a few days, I left Samburu and headed to the Ngare Mara Gate in Buffalo Springs. I picked up Abdi and Rasheed another ranger and we drove towards the springs. It took us about half an hour before we arrived in an open area and there it was. A huge male cheetah.

I immediately called Daktari Stephen Chege, the Kenya Wildlife Service vet in charge of the area, who asked us to guard the cheetah from hyenas and lions and he would arrive early the next morning to perform a necropsy. He asked me not to touch the cheetah as it was crucial to leave it the way it was. We agreed to guard the cheetah along with the rangers from Buffalo Springs. Luckily we had some food (a cabbage and some rotting carrots) in the car (and crates of lion scat as well!) but unfortunately no tent (I have learnt my lesson here!) so as on many previous occasions, Gypsy came to our rescue and was our home for the night.

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