S-119 | Song-like activation of syringeal and respiratory muscles during sleep in canaries

Sensory and Motor Systems
Author: Facundo Fainstein | Email: facu.fainstein@gmail.com

Facundo Fainstein^1°2°, Franz Goller^3°4°, Gabriel B. Mindlin^1°2°

^1° Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Física, Ciudad Universitaria, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
^2° CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Física Interdisciplinaria y Aplicada (INFINA), Ciudad Universitaria, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
^3° School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
^4° Institute for Integrative Cell Biology and Physiology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany

Sleep replay activity involves the reactivation of brain structures with patterns similar to those observed during waking behavior. In this study, we demonstrate that adult male canaries exhibit spontaneous, song-like peripheral reactivation during night sleep. Our findings include: (1) the presence of activity in respiratory muscles, leading to song-like air sac pressure patterns of low amplitude, (2) the simultaneous occurrence of respiratory replay events and reactivation of syringeal muscles, and (3) the reactivation of syringeal muscles without concurrent respiratory system activity. This song-like reactivation of peripheral motor systems enables the identification of specific motor patterns, with replay events preserving individual morphological and temporal properties. The activation of peripheral motor systems in songbirds and the differences in activation patterns between species give unique insights into the fictive behavioral output of activation of a complex learned motor behavior during sleep, allowing insights into the neural control mechanisms and potential functions.