Estradiol induces region-specific inhibition of ZENK but does not affect the behavioral preference for tutored song in adult female zebra finches

Female zebra finches display a preference for songs of males raised with tutors compared to those from males without tutors. To determine how this behavioral preference may be mediated by auditory perception sites, the social behavior network, and the dopamine reward system, and whether responses of these regions are affected by estradiol, females were treated with hormone or blank implants. An auditory choice test was conducted followed by exposure to tutored or untutored song or silence to examine induction of the immediate early gene, ZENK. Birds spent significantly more time near tutored than untutored song, regardless of estrogen treatment, and estradiol significantly decreased the density of ZENK immunoreactive neurons within the ventromedial hypothalamus. These results suggest that selective neural and behavioral responses can be induced by both high quality vocalizations and estradiol, although they are not necessarily correlated.