Associate Provost for Research Boston University Medical Campus
NINDS - National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke	Research Resources

Abstract

Abstract: DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Vertebrate animals display sexually dimorphic behaviors that are regulated by steroid hormones, but the mechanisms by which hormones affect the nervous system, and the nervous system in turn controls these behaviors, are poorly understood. In the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, sexually dimorphic vocal behaviors have been well documented and attributed to differences in neural pattern generation. Sex- specific neuronal firing patterns and membrane properties have been found in laryngeal motor neurons. I propose to examine one of these sex differences: the presence of the hyperpolarization activated current (Ih) in male motor neurons, but not females, and its effect on vocal behavior. I hypothesize that Ih acts to regulate excitability in the motor nucleus and thus plays a key role in the recruitment of motor neurons and the production of male-specific vocal behavior. I will examine the effect of pharmacological blockade and enhancement of Ih on the firing patterns of single motor neurons and on the structure of population activity using both a controlled premotor stimulus and a fictive activity model of male vocal behavior.

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Institution:	BOSTON UNIVERSITY
	881 COMMONWEALTH AVENUE
	BOSTON, MA 02215
Fiscal Year:	2006
Department:	BIOLOGY
Project Start:	01-AUG-2006
Project End:	31-JUL-2009
ICD:	NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE
IRG:	ZRG1