BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//ZContent.net//ZapCalLib 1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Birdsong and reward: neuroendocrine regulation of the motivation to
  communicate
LOCATION:Anatomy/Zoology Building W118
TZID:America/Denver
DTSTART:20151201T000000
UID:2026-05-13-06-40-31@natsci.colostate.edu
DTSTAMP:20260513T064031
Description:Songbirds are well known for singing at high rates within multi
 ple distinct social contexts. This suggests that they are highly motivated
  to communicate and raises the possibility that the consequences of vocal 
 production are rewarding (or alternatively that reward can facilitate voca
 l production). Until recently\, little was known about the neural regulati
 on of the motivation to communicate or the role of reward neural systems i
 n vocal production.  Across vertebrates\, dopamine and opioid neuropeptid
 es underlie reward seeking and sensory pleasure associated with multiple b
 ehaviors.  In songbirds\, dopamine and opioids are found in brain regions
  implicated in motivation\, reward\, and singing behavior\, including the 
 medial preoptic nucleus (POM).  Several lines of research indicate that d
 opamine and opioids in the POM play roles in birdsong that differ dependin
 g upon whether song is produced spontaneously in affiliative flocks (a typ
 e of song that can be considered socially-motivated) or used to attract ma
 tes (sexually-motivated song). Studies from my lab using qPCR\, immunolabe
 ling\, autoradiography\, HPLC\, site-directed pharmacological manipulation
 s\, and behavioral tests of song and reward in male European starlings (St
 urnus vulgaris) support the hypotheses that 1) distinct patterns of dopami
 ne and opioid activity in the POM influence the motivation to produce soci
 ally- and sexually-motivated song\, that 2) socially-motivated communicati
 on is facilitated and maintained by intrinsic reward induced by immediate 
 release of opioids\, and that 3) sexually-motivated communication is exter
 nally rewarded by opioids released upon successful mate attraction. 4:00 p
 m
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR