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David J.-Perkel

David J. Perkel
Professor
perkel@uw.edu
267 LSB
(206) 221-2477
Perkel lab
Accepting graduate students
Fields of interest
Behavior, Biomechanics, Computational Biology, Neurobiology, Physiology

Vocal learning in songbirds is an experimentally accessible model system in which to study the neural mechanisms of learning. Juvenile birds memorize song(s) from an adult tutor and then use auditory feedback from their own songs to compare with their memory of the tutor song(s). This comparison guides a process of motor learning; through practice, juvenile birds gradually learn to produce a highly stereotyped song that resembles the tutor song. Extensive research has investigated the underlying neural circuits that are involved in song learning and production. Our lab uses a variety of electrophysiological, anatomical and behavioral approaches to probe the neural mechanisms that mediate song learning and song behavior.
Two main neural circuits have been implicated in song production and learning. The motor pathway descends from forebrain nucleus HVC, which projects to nucleus RA, which then projects to brainstem motor and premotor neurons controlling muscles of the vocal organ, the syrinx, and those of respiration. This pathway is essential for production of song. A second circuit, the anterior forebrain pathway (AFP), arises from HVC as well and projects to the basal ganglia structure area X, which projects to the thalamic nucleus DLM, which projects to a forebrain nucleus LMAN, which projects back to motor pathway nucleus RA. The AFP is essential for vocal learning but not production of previously learned song. Neurons of the AFP exhibit specific responsiveness to auditory information and are therefore well placed to provide the motor pathway with auditory feedback about the quality of the bird's own song.
Our main long-term goal is to understand at the level of neurons, synapses and circuits how song is learned and produced. Our current work falls into several categories:

- Mechanisms of pattern generation in the motor pathway
- Structure and function of the anterior forebrain pathway
- Evolutionary origin of the anterior forebrain pathway in songbirds
- Mechanisms underlying seasonal control of song (in collaboration with Eliot Brenowitz)

B.A. 1984 Biology Harvard University

Ph.D. 1992 Neuroscience University of California, San Francisco

Anatomy of a songbird basal ganglia circuit essential for vocal learning and plasticity, Gale, S. D., and Perkel D. J. , J Chem Neuroanat, Volume 39, Issue 2, p.124-31, (Submitted)
A basal ganglia pathway drives selective auditory responses in songbird dopaminergic neurons via disinhibition, Gale, S. D., and Perkel D. J. , J Neurosci, Volume 30, Issue 3, p.1027-37, (Submitted)
Striatal dopamine modulates basal ganglia output and regulates social context-dependent behavioral variability through D1 receptors, Leblois, A., Wendel B. J., and Perkel D. J. , J Neurosci, Volume 30, Issue 16, p.5730-43, (Submitted)
Language and birdsong: Introduction to the special issue, Brenowitz, E. A., Perkel D. J., and Osterhout L. , Brain Lang, (Submitted)
A Novel Model for Examining Recovery of Phonation After Vocal Nerve Damage, Bhama, P. K., Hillel A. D., Merati A. L., and Perkel D. J. , J Voice, (Submitted)
The balance hypothesis for the avian lumbosacral organ and an exploration of its morphological variation, Stanchak, Kathryn E., French Cooper, Perkel David J., and Brunton Bingni W. , Integrative Organismal Biology, Volume 2, p.obaa024, (2020)
Millisecond timescale disinhibition mediates fast information transmission through an avian basal ganglia loop, Leblois, A., Bodor A. L., Person A. L., and Perkel D. J. , J Neurosci, 2009, Volume 29, Issue 49, p.15420-33, (2009)
Plastic and stable electrophysiological properties of adult avian forebrain song-control neurons across changing breeding conditions, Meitzen, J., Weaver A. L., Brenowitz E. A., and Perkel D. J. , J Neurosci, 2009, Volume 29, Issue 20, p.6558-67, (2009)
Time course of changes in Gambel's white-crowned sparrow song behavior following transitions in breeding condition, Meitzen, J., Thompson C. K., Choi H., Perkel D. J., and Brenowitz E. A. , Horm Behav, 2009, Volume 55, Issue 1, p.217-27, (2009)
Organization of the songbird basal ganglia, including area X, Person, A. L., Gale S. D., Farries M. A., and Perkel D. J. , J Comp Neurol, 2008, Volume 508, Issue 5, p.840-66, (2008)
Noradrenergic and GABA B receptor activation differentially modulate inputs to the premotor nucleus RA in zebra finches, Sizemore, M., and Perkel D. J. , J Neurophysiol, 2008, Volume 100, Issue 1, p.8-18, (2008)
A novel basal ganglia pathway forms a loop linking a vocal learning circuit with its dopaminergic input, Gale, S. D., Person A. L., and Perkel D. J. , J Comp Neurol, 2008, Volume 508, Issue 5, p.824-39, (2008)
Steroid hormones act transsynaptically within the forebrain to regulate neuronal phenotype and song stereotypy, Meitzen, J., Moore I. T., Lent K., Brenowitz E. A., and Perkel D. J. , J Neurosci, 2007, Volume 27, Issue 44, p.12045-57, (2007)
Pallidal neuron activity increases during sensory relay through thalamus in a songbird circuit essential for learning, Person, A. L., and Perkel D. J. , J Neurosci, 2007, Volume 27, Issue 32, p.8687-98, (2007)
Seasonal changes in intrinsic electrophysiological activity of song control neurons in wild song sparrows, Meitzen, J., Perkel D. J., and Brenowitz E. A. , J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol, 2007, Volume 193, Issue 6, p.677-83, (2007)
Noradrenergic modulation of activity in a vocal control nucleus in vitro, Solis, M. M., and Perkel D. J. , J Neurophysiol, 2006, Volume 95, Issue 4, p.2265-76, (2006)
Physiological properties of zebra finch ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra pars compacta neurons, Gale, S. D., and Perkel D. J. , J Neurophysiol, 2006, Volume 96, Issue 5, p.2295-306, (2006)
Seasonal-like plasticity of spontaneous firing rate in a songbird pre-motor nucleus, Park, K. H., Meitzen J., Moore I. T., Brenowitz E. A., and Perkel D. J. , J Neurobiol, 2005, Volume 64, Issue 2, p.181-91, (2005)
Electrophysiological properties of neurons in the basal ganglia of the domestic chick: conservation and divergence in the evolution of the avian basal ganglia, Farries, M. A., Meitzen J., and Perkel D. J. , J Neurophysiol, 2005, Volume 94, Issue 1, p.454-67, (2005)
Rhythmic activity in a forebrain vocal control nucleus in vitro, Solis, M. M., and Perkel D. J. , J Neurosci, 2005, Volume 25, Issue 11, p.2811-22, (2005)
Evidence for "direct" and "indirect" pathways through the song system basal ganglia, Farries, M. A., Ding L., and Perkel D. J. , J Comp Neurol, 2005, Volume 484, Issue 1, p.93-104, (2005)
Birdbrains could teach basal ganglia research a new song, Doupe, A. J., Perkel D. J., Reiner A., and Stern E. A. , Trends Neurosci, 2005, Volume 28, Issue 7, p.353-63, (2005)
Unitary IPSPs drive precise thalamic spiking in a circuit required for learning, Person, A. L., and Perkel D. J. , Neuron, 2005, Volume 46, Issue 1, p.129-40, (2005)