Songbird has become an ideal model for studying motor
learning due to its unique learned
song behavior. It has been proved that
song behavior is directly regulated by
song control system in the
forebrain of
songbirds. There are lines of evidence to show that
cholinergic transmitters and their receptors are distributed in
song control system, and vocal control nuclei in
song control system are innervated by
cholinergic nerves from the central
cholinergic system in
basal forebrain, which can
affect activities of vocal control nuclei through
cholinergic transmitters, and then
affect song behavior. Studies in
mammals have confirmed that the central
cholinergic system is involved in the
regulation of motor
behavior and neural process of motor
learning. Elucidation of
regulation of
songbirds'
song behavior by central
cholinergic system would shed
light on the neural mechanism of
song motor control and
song learning and
memory in
songbirds, and provide theoretical insights for researches on other
animals' sensorimotor processes and
human language learning. This
review summarized recent progresses, including the
research work of our
laboratory, in the studies on the selectivity of
cholinergic transmitters to their receptors and their effects on neuronal activities in vocal control nuclei of
songbirds and provided valuable clues for revealing the
regulation mechanism of central
cholinergic system on
songbirds'
song behavior.