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Melissa Coleman

Associate Professor of Biology

Email: mcoleman@kecksci.claremont.edu
Office: Keck Science Center B37
Phone: 909-607-0889

Educational Background

B.S., Samford University
Ph.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham
Postdoc, Brandeis University
Postdoc, Barrow Neurological Institute
Postdoc, Duke University

Courses Taught

  • BIOL 80L Behavioral Neurobiology
  • BIOL 095 Foundations in Neuroscience
  • BIOL 148L Neuroscience1: Cell and Molecular
  • BIOL 149 Neuroscience2: Systems
  • BIOL 044L Bio 44 lab
  • BIOL 043L Bio 43 lab
  • BIOL 140 Selected topics in Neuroscience

Research Interests

Neural basis of behavior, cellular and systems neurobiology, birdsong

Selected Publications

  1. Williams, S.M.*, A. Nast* and M.J. Coleman. (2012). Characterization of synaptically connected nuclei in a potential motor feedback pathway in the zebra finch song system. PLoS ONE 7(2): e32178.
    Abstract: Birdsong is a learned behavior that is controlled by a group of identified nuclei, known collectively as the song system. The cortical nucleus HVC (used as a proper name) is a focal point of many investigations as it is necessary for song production, song learning, and receives selective auditory information. HVC receives input from several sources including the cortical area MMAN (medial magnocellular nucleus of the nidopallium). The MMAN to HVC connection is particularly interesting as it provides potential sensorimotor feedback to HVC. To begin to understand the role of this connection, we investigated the physiological relation between MMAN and HVC activity with simultaneous multiunit extracellular recordings from these two nuclei in urethane anesthetized zebra finches. As previously reported, we found similar timing in spontaneous bursts of activity in MMAN and HVC. Like HVC, MMAN responds to auditory playback of the bird’s own song (BOS), but had little response to reversed BOS or conspecific song. Stimulation of MMAN resulted in evoked activity in HVC, indicating functional excitation from MMAN to HVC. However, inactivation of MMAN resulted in no consistent change in auditory responses in HVC. Taken together, these results indicate that MMAN provides functional excitatory input to HVC but does not provide significant auditory input to HVC in anesthetized animals. We hypothesize that MMAN may play a role in motor reinforcement or coordination, or may provide modulatory input to the song system about the internal state of the animal as it receives input from the hypothalamus.
  2. Fortune, E.S., C. Rodriguez, D. Li, G.F. Ball and M.J. Coleman. (2011). Neural mechanisms for the coordination of duet singing in wrens. Science 334: 666-70.
    Abstract: Plain-tailed wrens (Pheugopedius euophrys) cooperate to produce a duet song in which males and females rapidly alternate singing syllables. We examined how sensory information from each wren is used to coordinate singing between individuals for the production of this cooperative behavior. Previous findings in nonduetting songbird species suggest that premotor circuits should encode each bird’s own contribution to the duet. In contrast, we find that both male and female wrens encode the combined cooperative output of the pair of birds. Further, behavior and neurophysiology show that both sexes coordinate the timing of their singing based on feedback from the partner and suggest that females may lead the duet.
  3. Remage-Healey, L., M.J. Coleman, R. K. Oyama, and B. A. Schlinger. (2010). Brain estrogens rapidly strengthen auditory encoding and guide song preference in a songbird. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107: 3852–3857.
    Abstract: Higher cognitive function depends on accurate detection and processing of subtle features of sensory stimuli. Such precise computations require neural circuits to be modulated over rapid timescales, yet this modulation is poorly understood. Brain-derived steroids (neurosteroids) can act as fast signaling molecules in the vertebrate central nervous system and could therefore modulate sensory processing and guide behavior, but there is no empirical evidence for this possibility. Here we report that acute inhibition of estrogen production within a cortical-like region involved in complex auditory processing disrupts a songbird’s ability to behaviorally respond to song stimuli. Identical manipulation of local estrogen levels rapidly changes burst firing of single auditory neurons. This acute estrogen-mediated modulation targets song and not other auditory stimuli, possibly enabling discrimination among species-specific signals. Our results demonstrate a crucial role for neuroestrogen synthesis among vertebrates for enhanced sensory encoding. Cognitive impairments associated with estrogen depletion, including verbal memory loss in humans, may therefore stem from compromised moment-by-moment estrogen actions in higher-order cortical circuits.
  4. Bauer E.E., M.J. Coleman, T.F. Roberts, A. Roy, J. Prather, R. Mooney. (2008). A Synaptic Basis for Auditory-Vocal Integration in the Songbird. Journal of Neuroscience 28: 1509-1522.
  5. Coleman M.J., A. Roy, J.M. Wild and R. Mooney. (2007). Thalamic gating of auditory responses in telencephalic song control nuclei. Journal of Neuroscience 27: 10024-10036.
  6. Coleman, M.J. and E.T. Vu. (2005). Recovery of impaired songs following unilateral but not bilateral lesions of nucleus uvaeformis of adult zebra finches. J Neurobiology   63: 70-89.
  7. Coleman, M.J. and R. Mooney. (2004). Synaptic transformations underlying highly selective auditory representations of learned birdsong. J Neuroscience 24: 7251-7265.