GABA, taurine and learning: release of amino acids from slices of chick brain following filial imprinting

Abstract

The intermediate and medial hyperstriatum ventrale (IMHV) is a forebrain region in the domestic chick that is a site of information storage for the learning process of imprinting. We enquired whether imprinting is associated with learning-related increases in calcium-dependent, potassium-stimulated release of neurotransmitter amino acids from the IMHV. Chicks were hatched and reared in darkness until 15–30 h after hatching. They then either remained in darkness or were trained for 2 h by exposure to an imprinting stimulus. One hour later, the chicks were given a preference test and a preference score was calculated from the results of this test, as a measure of imprinting. Chicks were killed 2 h after training. Slices from the left and right IMHV of trained and untrained chicks were superfused with Krebs’ solution either with or without calcium and the superfusate assayed for arginine, aspartate, citrulline, GABA, glutamate, glycine and taurine using high-performance liquid chromatography. For calcium-containing superfusates from the left IMHV, preference score was significantly correlated with potassium-stimulated release of (i) GABA ( r=0.51, 23 d.f., P=0.008) and (ii) taurine ( r=0.77, 23 d.f., P<0.0001). There was no significant difference between the mean values of trained and untrained chicks for either compound. However, examination of the variance of the data indicated that release of both GABA and taurine increased as a result of learning. No significant correlation between preference score and release was found for any of the amino acids from the right IMHV, nor for control tissue from the left IMHV superfused with calcium-free solution. These results demonstrate that the learning process of imprinting is associated with increases in releasable pools of GABA and taurine and/or membrane excitability in the left IMHV.