Dual neuromodulatory dynamics underlie birdsong learning

Jiaxuan Qi, Drew C. Schreiner, Miles Martinez, John Pearson () and Richard Mooney ()
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Jiaxuan Qi: Duke University School of Medicine
Drew C. Schreiner: Duke University School of Medicine
Miles Martinez: Duke University School of Medicine
John Pearson: Duke University School of Medicine
Richard Mooney: Duke University School of Medicine

Nature, 2025, vol. 641, issue 8063, 690-698

Abstract: Abstract Although learning in response to extrinsic reinforcement is theorized to be driven by dopamine signals that encode the difference between expected and experienced rewards1,2, skills that enable verbal or musical expression can be learned without extrinsic reinforcement. Instead, spontaneous execution of these skills is thought to be intrinsically reinforcing3,4. Whether dopamine signals similarly guide learning of these intrinsically reinforced behaviours is unknown. In juvenile zebra finches learning from an adult tutor, dopamine signalling in a song-specialized basal ganglia region is required for successful song copying, a spontaneous, intrinsically reinforced process5. Here we show that dopamine dynamics in the song basal ganglia faithfully track the learned quality of juvenile song performance on a rendition-by-rendition basis. Furthermore, dopamine release in the basal ganglia is driven not only by inputs from midbrain dopamine neurons classically associated with reinforcement learning but also by song premotor inputs, which act by means of local cholinergic signalling to elevate dopamine during singing. Although both cholinergic and dopaminergic signalling are necessary for juvenile song learning, only dopamine tracks the learned quality of song performance. Therefore, dopamine dynamics in the basal ganglia encode performance quality during self-directed, long-term learning of natural behaviours.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08694-9

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