Intrinsic properties link a network model to zebra finch song.

Overview

1. Committee on Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States
2. Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States
3. The Neuroscience Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States

Abstract

Neuronal intrinsic excitability is a mechanism implicated in learning and memory that is distinct from synaptic plasticity. Prior work in songbirds established that intrinsic properties (IPs) of premotor basal-ganglia-projecting neurons (HVCX) relate to learned song. Here, we find that temporal song structure is related to specific HVCX IPs: HVCX from birds who sang longer songs, including longer invariant vocalizations (harmonic stacks), had IPs that reflected increased post-inhibitory rebound. This suggests a rebound excitation mechanism underlying the ability of HVCX neurons to integrate over long periods of time throughout the song and represent sequence information. To explore this, we constructed a network model of realistic neurons showing how in vivo HVC bursting properties link rebound excitation to network structure and behavior. These results demonstrate an explicit link between neuronal IPs and learned behavior. We propose that sequential behaviors exhibiting temporal regularity require IPs to be included in realistic network-level descriptions.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

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The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.

Tracing map

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Data

No dataset and no data link were found in the paper.

Data availability

All data and custom code supporting the findings of this study are publicly available in the Dryad Digital Repository: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wdbrv162x. The deposit contains (i) extracted electrophysiological features and trace data for HVC-RA and HVC-X neurons (Python pickle format), (ii) per-bird summary statistics used to generate the figures (Excel files, "Cardinal 2.0"), and (iii) example MATLAB code for the Hodgkin-Huxley network simulations reported in Figure 5 and its supplements.

The following dataset was generated:

Medina N, Margliash D. 2026. Bursts from the past: Intrinsic properties link a network model to zebra finch song. Dryad Digital Repository.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

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Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, pages, dates, 2 authors, 1 keyword, 9 MeSH terms, 1 funder, 57 references.

Cite

This paper

Medina, N. D., & Margoliash, D. (2026). Intrinsic properties link a network model to zebra finch song. eLife, 13, RP99611. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.99611

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