Click here to close
Hello! We notice that you are using Internet Explorer, which is not supported by Xenbase and may cause the site to display incorrectly.
We suggest using a current version of Chrome,
FireFox, or Safari.
???displayArticle.abstract???
Vocal behaviors of African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) are produced by a single pair of muscles. This simplification, relative to other vertebrates, allows us to more easily determine how CNS motor pathways function to produce sex-specific songs. We describe here certain sexually differentiated properties of vocal motoneurons that are matched to male and female vocal demands. Both active and passive membrane properties differ between the sexes. Male motoneurons have lower input resistances and larger membrane capacitances than female motoneurons. Two distinct firing patterns are found, in different proportions, in males and females. The strongly adapting neurons that predominate in males initiate spikes at short, reliable latencies, whereas the weakly adapting motoneurons characteristic of females translate graded levels of depolarization into different firing rates. Low-threshold potassium currents (IKL) predominate in males. Hyperpolarization-activated cationic currents (IH) are found almost exclusively in males. Modeling results indicate that sex-typical active and passive properties can account for the occurrence of strongly and weakly adapting spike trains in the sexes. In particular, IKL seem to play an important role in determining the firing patterns of neurons. We suggest that these physiological differences facilitate transformation of synaptic inputs into male- and female-specific outputs that generate sexually distinct songs in vivo.
Altomare,
Integrated allosteric model of voltage gating of HCN channels.
2001, Pubmed
Altomare,
Integrated allosteric model of voltage gating of HCN channels.
2001,
Pubmed
Carr,
Evolution and development of time coding systems.
2001,
Pubmed
DiFrancesco,
Direct activation of cardiac pacemaker channels by intracellular cyclic AMP.
1991,
Pubmed
Fadool,
Patch-clamp analysis of voltage-activated and chemically activated currents in the vomeronasal organ of Sternotherus odoratus (stinkpot/musk turtle).
2001,
Pubmed
Ferrari,
Individual variation in and androgen-modulation of the sodium current in electric organ.
1995,
Pubmed
Goldman,
Global structure, robustness, and modulation of neuronal models.
2001,
Pubmed
Gutkin,
Dynamics of membrane excitability determine interspike interval variability: a link between spike generation mechanisms and cortical spike train statistics.
1998,
Pubmed
Hahnloser,
An ultra-sparse code underlies the generation of neural sequences in a songbird.
2002,
Pubmed
Hannigan,
Androgen-induced alterations in vocalizations of female Xenopus laevis: modifiability and constraints.
1986,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Harris,
Selective blockade of the hyperpolarization-activated cationic current (Ih) in guinea pig substantia nigra pars compacta neurones by a novel bradycardic agent, Zeneca ZM 227189.
1994,
Pubmed
Kiehn,
Contributions of intrinsic motor neuron properties to the production of rhythmic motor output in the mammalian spinal cord.
2000,
Pubmed
Lindau,
Patch-clamp techniques for time-resolved capacitance measurements in single cells.
1988,
Pubmed
Liu,
Depolarization selectively increases the expression of the Kv3.1 potassium channel in developing inferior colliculus neurons.
1998,
Pubmed
Ludwig,
Two pacemaker channels from human heart with profoundly different activation kinetics.
1999,
Pubmed
Ludwig,
A family of hyperpolarization-activated mammalian cation channels.
1998,
Pubmed
Lüthi,
H-current: properties of a neuronal and network pacemaker.
1998,
Pubmed
MacLean,
Activity-independent homeostasis in rhythmically active neurons.
2003,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Macica,
Casein kinase 2 determines the voltage dependence of the Kv3.1 channel in auditory neurons and transfected cells.
2001,
Pubmed
Magee,
Dendritic hyperpolarization-activated currents modify the integrative properties of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons.
1998,
Pubmed
Manabe,
Membrane currents recorded from sexually dimorphic motoneurones of the bulbocavernosus muscle in neonatal rats.
1991,
Pubmed
Marder,
Central pattern generators and the control of rhythmic movements.
2001,
Pubmed
Moroni,
Kinetic and ionic properties of the human HCN2 pacemaker channel.
2000,
Pubmed
Pape,
Queer current and pacemaker: the hyperpolarization-activated cation current in neurons.
1996,
Pubmed
Perney,
Localization of a high threshold potassium channel in the rat cochlear nucleus.
1997,
Pubmed
Richardson,
Modification of delayed rectifier potassium currents by the Kv9.1 potassium channel subunit.
2000,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Santoro,
Molecular and functional heterogeneity of hyperpolarization-activated pacemaker channels in the mouse CNS.
2000,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Santoro,
Identification of a gene encoding a hyperpolarization-activated pacemaker channel of brain.
1998,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Simpson,
Origin and identification of fibers in the cranial nerve IX-X complex of Xenopus laevis: Lucifer Yellow backfills in vitro.
1986,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Suthers,
The neuromuscular control of birdsong.
1999,
Pubmed
Tobias,
Vocalizations by a sexually dimorphic isolated larynx: peripheral constraints on behavioral expression.
1987,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Tobias,
Rapping, a female receptive call, initiates male-female duets in the South African clawed frog.
1998,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Tobias,
Vocal communication between male Xenopus laevis.
2004,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Vu,
Interhemispheric coordination of premotor neural activity during singing in adult zebra finches.
1998,
Pubmed
Wang,
Contribution of the Kv3.1 potassium channel to high-frequency firing in mouse auditory neurones.
1998,
Pubmed
Wetzel,
A proposed neural pathway for vocalization in South African clawed frogs, Xenopus laevis.
1985,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Yamaguchi,
Generating sexually differentiated vocal patterns: laryngeal nerve and EMG recordings from vocalizing male and female african clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis).
2000,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Yu,
Temporal hierarchical control of singing in birds.
1996,
Pubmed
