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  • A complex mTOR response in habituation paradigms for a social signal in adult songbirds.

A complex mTOR response in habituation paradigms for a social signal in adult songbirds.

Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) (2018-05-17)
Somayeh Ahmadiantehrani, Elisa O Gores, Sarah E London
ABSTRACT

Nonassociative learning is considered simple because it depends on presentation of a single stimulus, but it likely reflects complex molecular signaling. To advance understanding of the molecular mechanisms of one form of nonassociative learning, habituation, for ethologically relevant signals we examined song recognition learning in adult zebra finches. These colonial songbirds learn the unique song of individuals, which helps establish and maintain mate and other social bonds, and informs appropriate behavioral interactions with specific birds. We leveraged prior work demonstrating behavioral habituation for individual songs, and extended the molecular framework correlated with this behavior by investigating the mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) signaling cascade. We hypothesized that mTOR may contribute to habituation because it integrates a variety of upstream signals and enhances associative learning, and it crosstalks with another cascade previously associated with habituation, ERK/ZENK. To begin probing for a possible role for mTOR in song recognition learning, we used a combination of song playback paradigms and bidirectional dysregulation of mTORC1 activation. We found that mTOR demonstrates the molecular signatures of a habituation mechanism, and that its manipulation reveals the complexity of processes that may be invoked during nonassociative learning. These results thus expand the molecular targets for habituation studies and raise new questions about neural processing of complex natural signals.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Sigma-Aldrich
Anti-NeuN Antibody, clone A60, clone A60, Chemicon®, from mouse
Sigma-Aldrich
Anti-mTOR Antibody, clone 21D8.2, clone 2ID8.2, from mouse
Sigma-Aldrich
Anti-Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Antibody, clone 6C5, clone 6C5, Chemicon®, from mouse