Vocal communication signals can provide listeners with information about the signaler and elicit motivated responses. Auditory cortical and mesolimbic reward circuits are often considered to have distinct roles in these processes, with auditory cortical circuits responsible for detecting and discriminating sounds and mesolimbic circuits responsible for ascribing salience and modulating preference for those sounds. Here, we investigated whether dopamine within auditory cortical circuits themselves can shape the incentive salience of a vocal signal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe neurotransmitter acetylcholine influences how male finches perform courtship songs by acting on a region of the premotor cortex called HVC.
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