439
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
J.A. Sisneros (ed.), Fish Hearing and Bioacoustics, Advances in Experimental
Medicine and Biology 877, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-21059-9_19
Neuroanatomical Evidence for Catecholamines
as Modulators of Audition and Acoustic
Behavior in a Vocal Teleost
Paul M. Forlano and Joseph A. Sisneros
Abstract The plainfi n midshipman fi sh ( Porichthys notatus ) is a well-studied
model to understand the neural and endocrine mechanisms underlying vocalacoustic communication across vertebrates. It is well established that steroid hormones such as estrogen drive seasonal peripheral auditory plasticity in female
Porichthys in order to better encode the male’s advertisement call. However, little is
known of the neural substrates that underlie the motivation and coordinated behavioral response to auditory social signals. Catecholamines, which include dopamine
and noradrenaline, are good candidates for this function, as they are thought to
modulate the salience of and reinforce appropriate behavior to socially relevant
stimuli. This chapter summarizes our recent studies which aimed to characterize
catecholamine innervation in the central and peripheral auditory system of
Porichthys as well as test the hypotheses that innervation of the auditory system is
seasonally plastic and catecholaminergic neurons are activated in response to conspecifi c vocalizations. Of particular signifi cance is the discovery of direct dopaminergic innervation of the saccule, the main hearing end organ, by neurons in the
diencephalon, which also robustly innervate the cholinergic auditory efferent
nucleus in the hindbrain. Seasonal changes in dopamine innervation in both these
areas appear dependent on reproductive state in females and may ultimately function to modulate the sensitivity of the peripheral auditory system as an adaptation to
P. M. Forlano (*)
Department of Biology , Brooklyn College, and The Graduate Center,
City University of New York , Brooklyn , NY , USA
Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center ,
Brooklyn College , Brooklyn , NY , USA
e-mail: pforlano@brooklyn.cuny.edu
J. A. Sisneros
Departments of Psychology and Biology , University of Washington , Seattle , WA , USA
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
J.A. Sisneros (ed.), Fish Hearing and Bioacoustics, Advances in Experimental
Medicine and Biology 877, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-21059-9_19
Neuroanatomical Evidence for Catecholamines
as Modulators of Audition and Acoustic
Behavior in a Vocal Teleost
Paul M. Forlano and Joseph A. Sisneros
Abstract The plainfi n midshipman fi sh ( Porichthys notatus ) is a well-studied
model to understand the neural and endocrine mechanisms underlying vocalacoustic communication across vertebrates. It is well established that steroid hormones such as estrogen drive seasonal peripheral auditory plasticity in female
Porichthys in order to better encode the male’s advertisement call. However, little is
known of the neural substrates that underlie the motivation and coordinated behavioral response to auditory social signals. Catecholamines, which include dopamine
and noradrenaline, are good candidates for this function, as they are thought to
modulate the salience of and reinforce appropriate behavior to socially relevant
stimuli. This chapter summarizes our recent studies which aimed to characterize
catecholamine innervation in the central and peripheral auditory system of
Porichthys as well as test the hypotheses that innervation of the auditory system is
seasonally plastic and catecholaminergic neurons are activated in response to conspecifi c vocalizations. Of particular signifi cance is the discovery of direct dopaminergic innervation of the saccule, the main hearing end organ, by neurons in the
diencephalon, which also robustly innervate the cholinergic auditory efferent
nucleus in the hindbrain. Seasonal changes in dopamine innervation in both these
areas appear dependent on reproductive state in females and may ultimately function to modulate the sensitivity of the peripheral auditory system as an adaptation to
P. M. Forlano (*)
Department of Biology , Brooklyn College, and The Graduate Center,
City University of New York , Brooklyn , NY , USA
Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center ,
Brooklyn College , Brooklyn , NY , USA
e-mail: pforlano@brooklyn.cuny.edu
J. A. Sisneros
Departments of Psychology and Biology , University of Washington , Seattle , WA , USA