Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States; Interdepartmental Program in Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States
Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States
Todd Haswell Kimball
Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States; Physiological Science Master’s Degree Program, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States
Caitlin M Aamodt
Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States; Interdepartmental Program in Neuroscience, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States
Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States; Interdepartmental Program in Neuroscience, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States
Austin T Hilliard
Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, Stanford, United States
Xinshu Xiao
Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States; Interdepartmental Program in Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States
Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States; Interdepartmental Program in Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States; Interdepartmental Program in Neuroscience, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States
Human speech is one of the few examples of vocal learning among mammals yet ~half of avian species exhibit this ability. Its neurogenetic basis is largely unknown beyond a shared requirement for FoxP2 in both humans and zebra finches. We manipulated FoxP2 isoforms in Area X, a song-specific region of the avian striatopallidum analogous to human anterior striatum, during a critical period for song development. We delineate, for the first time, unique contributions of each isoform to vocal learning. Weighted gene coexpression network analysis of RNA-seq data revealed gene modules correlated to singing, learning, or vocal variability. Coexpression related to singing was found in juvenile and adult Area X whereas coexpression correlated to learning was unique to juveniles. The confluence of learning and singing coexpression in juvenile Area X may underscore molecular processes that drive vocal learning in young zebra finches and, by analogy, humans.
