What birdsong can teach us about the central noradrenergic system

Increasing evidence indicates that the noradrenergic system plays a key role in biasing the nervous system towards producing behaviors that help animals adapt to constantly changing environments. Most of the studies investigating noradrenergic function are performed in animals that have a limited repertoire of tractable natural behaviors. Songbirds, in contrast, with their rich set of precisely quantifiable vocal behaviors, provide a unique model system to study the noradrenergic system. An additional advantage of this system is the existence of a well-defined neural circuit, known as the song system, that is necessary for the production, learning and perception of song and can be studied at many different levels. These include the ability to investigate the effect of norepinephrine on synaptic function using brain slices, identifying its influence on singing-related gene expression and monitoring its impact on the activity of single neurons recorded in awake behaving birds. In this review article, we describe the similarities and differences, both anatomical and functional, between the avian and mammalian noradrenergic system and its role in sensory processing, learning, attention and synaptic modulation. We also describe how the noradrenergic system influences motor production, an under-explored aspect of norepinephrine function in mammalian studies. We argue that the richness of behaviors observed in songbirds provides a unique opportunity to study the noradrenergic system in a highly integrative manner that will ultimately provide important insights into the role of this system in normal behavior and disease.