4, 5 Although the neural circuits that control individual components of a male’s display are in some cases well described, 6, 7 little is known about the neural circuits that enable a wide variety of motor programs to be produced together during courtship. For example, during courtship, male peacock spiders make dance-like locomotor movements while elevating a brightly colored abdominal “fan” 1, 2 male bowerbirds generate deep-throated calls in concert with stereotyped postural changes and unilateral wing raises 3 and male red-capped Manakins slide backward down a branch toward a perched female while rapidly clicking their wings to generate audible buzzes and clicks. Males in many animal species produce elaborate courtship displays that comprise several distinct behaviors. ![]() These results show how a brain region important to reproduction in both birds and mammals enables holistic courtship displays in male zebra finches, which include learning songs, calls, and other non-vocal behaviors. Lastly, imaging calcium-related activity in A11 terminals in HVC showed that during courtship, A11 signals HVC about female-directed calls and during female-directed singing, about the transition from simpler introductory notes to the acoustically more complex syllables that depend intimately on HVC for their production. However, males with either type of lesion still produced songs when in social isolation. ![]() In contrast, lesioning A11 cell bodies strongly reduced and often abolished all female-directed courtship behaviors. Notably, lesioning A11 terminals in HVC blocked female-directed singing but did not interfere with female-directed calling, orientation, or pursuit. Anatomical mapping reveals that A11 is at the center of a complex network including the song premotor nucleus HVC as well as brainstem regions crucial to calling and locomotion. ![]() Here, we identify a midbrain cell group (A11) that enables male zebra finches to produce their learned songs in concert with various other behaviors, including female-directed orientation, pursuit, and calling. The neural circuits that enable the concerted production of the component behaviors of a courtship display are not well understood. Courtship displays often involve the concerted production of several distinct courtship behaviors.
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