RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Singing-Related Neural Activity in a Dorsal Forebrain–Basal Ganglia Circuit of Adult Zebra Finches JF The Journal of Neuroscience JO J. Neurosci. FD Society for Neuroscience SP 10461 OP 10481 DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.19-23-10461.1999 VO 19 IS 23 A1 Neal A. Hessler A1 Allison J. Doupe YR 1999 UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/19/23/10461.abstract AB The anterior forebrain pathway (AFP) of songbirds, a specialized dorsal forebrain–basal ganglia circuit, is crucial for song learning but has a less clear function in adults. We report here that neurons in two nuclei of the AFP, the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum (LMAN) and Area X, show marked changes in neurophysiological activity before and during singing in adult zebra finches. The presence of modulation before song output suggests that singing-related AFP activity originates, at least in part, in motor control nuclei. Some neurons in LMAN of awake birds also responded selectively to playback of the bird's own song, but neural activity during singing did not completely depend on auditory feedback in the short term, because neither the level nor the pattern of this activity was strongly affected by deafening. The singing-related activity of neurons in AFP nuclei of songbirds is consistent with a role of the AFP in adult singing or song maintenance, possibly related to the function of this circuit during initial song learning.