scholarly journals Adding colour-realistic video images to audio playbacks increases stimulus engagement but does not enhance vocal learning in zebra finches

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith M. Varkevisser ◽  
Ralph Simon ◽  
Ezequiel Mendoza ◽  
Martin How ◽  
Idse van Hijlkema ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Frame Rate ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Video Content ◽  
Biologically Relevant ◽  
Video Images

AbstractBird song and human speech are learned early in life and for both cases engagement with live social tutors generally leads to better learning outcomes than passive audio-only exposure. Real-world tutor–tutee relations are normally not uni- but multimodal and observations suggest that visual cues related to sound production might enhance vocal learning. We tested this hypothesis by pairing appropriate, colour-realistic, high frame-rate videos of a singing adult male zebra finch tutor with song playbacks and presenting these stimuli to juvenile zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Juveniles exposed to song playbacks combined with video presentation of a singing bird approached the stimulus more often and spent more time close to it than juveniles exposed to audio playback only or audio playback combined with pixelated and time-reversed videos. However, higher engagement with the realistic audio–visual stimuli was not predictive of better song learning. Thus, although multimodality increased stimulus engagement and biologically relevant video content was more salient than colour and movement equivalent videos, the higher engagement with the realistic audio–visual stimuli did not lead to enhanced vocal learning. Whether the lack of three-dimensionality of a video tutor and/or the lack of meaningful social interaction make them less suitable for facilitating song learning than audio–visual exposure to a live tutor remains to be tested.

scholarly journals Song preferences predict the quality of vocal learning in zebra finches

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos A. Rodriguez-Saltos ◽  
Aditya Bhise ◽  
Prasanna Karur ◽  
Ramsha Nabihah Khan ◽  
Sumin Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Schedule ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Social Reward ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Vocal Development ◽  
Song Preferences

In songbirds, learning to sing is a highly social process that likely involves social reward. Here, we hypothesized that the degree to which a juvenile songbird learns a song depends on the degree to which it finds that song rewarding to hear during vocal development. We tested this hypothesis by measuring song preferences in young birds during song learning and then analyzing their adult songs. Song preferences were measured in an operant key-pressing assay. Juvenile male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) had access to two keys, each of which was associated with a higher likelihood of playing the song of their father or that of another familiar adult ("neighbor"). To minimize the effects of exposure on learning, we implemented a reinforcement schedule that allowed us to detect preferences while balancing exposure to each song. On average, the juveniles significantly preferred the father's song early during song learning, before they were themselves singing. At around post-hatch day 60, their preference shifted to the neighbor's song. At the end of the song learning period, we recorded the juveniles' songs and compared them to the father's and the neighbor's song. All of the birds copied father's song. The accuracy with which the father's song was imitated was positively correlated with the peak strength of the preference for the father's song during the sensitive period. Our results show that preference for a social stimulus, in this case a vocalization, predicted social learning during development.

scholarly journals A subcortical circuit linking the cerebellum to the basal ganglia engaged in vocal learning

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludivine Pidoux ◽  
Pascale Leblanc ◽  
Arthur Leblois
Keyword(s):  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Sensorimotor Learning ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Subcortical Structures ◽  
Song Production ◽  
Cerebellar Lesions ◽  
Avian Song

AbstractSpeech is a complex sensorimotor skill, and vocal learning involves both the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. These subcortical structures interact indirectly through their respective loops with thalamo-cortical and brainstem networks, and directly via subcortical pathways, but the role of their interaction during sensorimotor learning remains undetermined. While songbirds and their song-dedicated basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuitry offer a unique opportunity to study subcortical circuits involved in vocal learning, the cerebellar contribution to avian song learning remains unknown. We demonstrate that the cerebellum provides a strong input to the song-related basal ganglia nucleus in zebra finches. Cerebellar signals are transmitted to the basal ganglia via a disynaptic connection through the thalamus and then conveyed to their cortical target and to the premotor nucleus controlling song production. Finally, cerebellar lesions impair juvenile song learning, opening new opportunities to investigate how subcortical interactions between the cerebellum and basal ganglia contribute to sensorimotor learning.

scholarly journals Estrogen and sex-dependent loss of the vocal learning system in female zebra finches

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ha Na Choe ◽  
Jeevan Tewari ◽  
Kevin W. Zhu ◽  
Matthew Davenport ◽  
Hiroaki Matsunami ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Expression Profiles ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Normal Male ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Song System ◽  
Estrogen Synthesis

AbstractSex hormones alter the organization of the brain during early development and coordinate various behaviors throughout life. In zebra finches, song learning is limited to males, and the associated song learning brain pathway only matures in males and atrophies in females. This atrophy can be reversed by giving females exogenous estrogen during early post-hatch development, but whether normal male song system development requires estrogen is uncertain. For the first time in songbirds, we administered exemestane, a potent third generation estrogen synthesis inhibitor, from the day of hatching until adulthood. We examined the behavior, brain, and transcriptome of individual song nuclei of these pharmacologically manipulated animals. We found that males with long-term exemestane treatment had diminished male-specific plumage, impaired song learning, but retained normal song nuclei sizes and most, but not all, of their specialized transcriptome. Consistent with prior findings, females with long-term estrogen treatment retained a functional song system, and we further observed their song nuclei had specialized gene expression profiles similar, but not identical to males. We also observed that different song nuclei responded to estrogen manipulation differently, with Area X in the striatum being the most altered by estrogen modulation. These findings support the hypothesis that song learning is an ancestral trait in both sexes, which was subsequently suppressed in females of some species, and that estrogen has come to play a critical role in modulating this suppression as well as refinement of song learning.

scholarly journals A subcortical circuit linking the cerebellum to the basal ganglia engaged in vocal learning

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludivine Pidoux ◽  
Pascale Le Blanc ◽  
Carole Levenes ◽  
Arthur Leblois
Keyword(s):  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Sensorimotor Learning ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Subcortical Structures ◽  
Song Production ◽  
Cerebellar Lesions ◽  
Avian Song

Speech is a complex sensorimotor skill, and vocal learning involves both the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. These subcortical structures interact indirectly through their respective loops with thalamo-cortical and brainstem networks, and directly via subcortical pathways, but the role of their interaction during sensorimotor learning remains undetermined. While songbirds and their song-dedicated basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuitry offer a unique opportunity to study subcortical circuits involved in vocal learning, the cerebellar contribution to avian song learning remains unknown. We demonstrate that the cerebellum provides a strong input to the song-related basal ganglia nucleus in zebra finches. Cerebellar signals are transmitted to the basal ganglia via a disynaptic connection through the thalamus and then conveyed to their cortical target and to the premotor nucleus controlling song production. Finally, cerebellar lesions impair juvenile song learning, opening new opportunities to investigate how subcortical interactions between the cerebellum and basal ganglia contribute to sensorimotor learning.

scholarly journals Chronic exposure to urban noise during the vocal learning period does not lead to increased song frequencies in zebra finches

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Liu ◽  
Sue Anne Zollinger ◽  
Henrik Brumm
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Plasticity ◽  
Noise Exposure ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Frequency Noise ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Urban Noise ◽  
Sound Levels

Abstract It has often been observed that birds sing at a higher pitch in cities and other areas that are polluted with intense low-frequency noise. How this pattern arises remains unclear though. One prevailing idea is that songbirds adjust song frequencies to environmental noise profiles through developmental plasticity via vocal learning. However, the conclusions of previous studies testing this hypothesis are inconsistent. Here we report the findings from two song learning experiments with zebra finches (Taenopygia guttata), in which we exposed young birds to anthropogenic noise during their sensitive vocal learning period. Unlike previous studies that addressed this issue, we did not use constant synthetic noise but natural urban noise with its typical amplitude fluctuations that was broadcast at realistic sound levels. We found that noise-exposed males in neither experiment developed higher pitched songs compared to control males. This suggests that the natural fluctuations between higher and lower noise levels in cities may allow young birds to exploit relatively quiet moments to hear their tutors and themselves, permitting them to make accurate copies of even low-frequency song elements. Significance statement If animals are to persist in urban habitats, they often must adjust their behavior to the altered conditions. Birds in cities are often observed to sing at a higher pitch, but we are largely ignorant of how this phenomenon arises. We investigated whether low-frequency traffic noise interferes with the song learning of birds so that they develop higher pitched songs. Accordingly, we played back natural traffic noise from urban bird habitats to young birds during their learning period and then analyzed their adult songs. We found that birds that learned their songs in noise did not sing at higher frequencies compared to control males that learned their song with no noise exposure. Our results show that typical traffic noise in cities may not be sufficient to interfere with vocal learning in a way that birds develop higher-pitched songs.

scholarly journals Vocal learning in songbirds: the role of syllable order in song recognition

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1836) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carien Mol ◽  
Johan J. Bolhuis ◽  
Sanne Moorman
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Serial Order ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Speech Acquisition ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Song Recognition ◽  
First Results ◽  
Sequential Information

Songbird vocal learning has interesting behavioural and neural parallels with speech acquisition in human infants. Zebra finch males sing one unique song that they imitate from conspecific males, and both sexes learn to recognize their father's song. Although males copy the stereotyped syllable sequence of their father's song, the role of sequential information in recognition remains unclear. Here, we investigated father's song recognition after changing the serial order of syllables (switching the middle syllables, first and last syllables, or playing all syllables in inverse order). Behavioural approach and call responses of adult male and female zebra finches to their father's versus unfamiliar songs in playback tests demonstrated significant recognition of father's song with all syllable-order manipulations. We then measured behavioural responses to normal versus inversed-order father's song. In line with our first results, the subjects did not differentiate between the two. Interestingly, when males' strength of song learning was taken into account, we found a significant correlation between song imitation scores and the approach responses to the father's song. These findings suggest that syllable sequence is not essential for recognition of father's song in zebra finches, but that it does affect responsiveness of males in proportion to the strength of vocal learning. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Vocal learning in animals and humans’.

Early life nutritional stress affects song learning but not underlying neural circuitry in zebra finches.

2020 ◽  
Vol 134 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-232
Author(s):  
Khulganaa Buyannemekh ◽  
Jessica B. Zito ◽  
Michelle L. Tomaszycki
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Nutritional Stress ◽  
Neural Circuitry ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Zebra Finches

scholarly journals Vocal Creativity in Elephant Sound Production

Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 750
Author(s):  
Angela S. Stoeger ◽  
Anton Baotic ◽  
Gunnar Heilmann
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Positive Reinforcement ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Social Feedback ◽  
Nasal Tissue ◽  
Production Techniques ◽  
Production Mechanisms

How do elephants achieve their enormous vocal flexibility when communicating, imitating or creating idiosyncratic sounds? The mechanisms that underpin this trait combine motoric abilities with vocal learning processes. We demonstrate the unusual production techniques used by five African savanna elephants to create idiosyncratic sounds, which they learn to produce on cue by positive reinforcement training. The elephants generate these sounds by applying nasal tissue vibration via an ingressive airflow at the trunk tip, or by contracting defined superficial muscles at the trunk base. While the production mechanisms of the individuals performing the same sound categories are similar, they do vary in fine-tuning, revealing that each individual has its own specific sound-producing strategy. This plasticity reflects the creative and cognitive abilities associated with ‘vocal’ learning processes. The fact that these sounds were reinforced and cue-stimulated suggests that social feedback and positive reinforcement can facilitate vocal creativity and vocal learning behavior in elephants. Revealing the mechanism and the capacity for vocal learning and sound creativity is fundamental to understanding the eloquence within the elephants’ communication system. This also helps to understand the evolution of human language and of open-ended vocal systems, which build upon similar cognitive processes.

scholarly journals Visual response of ventrolateral prefrontal neurons and their behavior-related modulation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Rozzi ◽  
Marco Bimbi ◽  
Alfonso Gravante ◽  
Luciano Simone ◽  
Leonardo Fogassi
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Visual Response ◽  
Visual Responses ◽  
Action Execution ◽  
Natural Behavior ◽  
Large Sector ◽  
Small Set ◽  
Early Passive ◽  
Task Conditions

AbstractThe ventral part of lateral prefrontal cortex (VLPF) of the monkey receives strong visual input, mainly from inferotemporal cortex. It has been shown that VLPF neurons can show visual responses during paradigms requiring to associate arbitrary visual cues to behavioral reactions. Further studies showed that there are also VLPF neurons responding to the presentation of specific visual stimuli, such as objects and faces. However, it is largely unknown whether VLPF neurons respond and differentiate between stimuli belonging to different categories, also in absence of a specific requirement to actively categorize or to exploit these stimuli for choosing a given behavior. The first aim of the present study is to evaluate and map the responses of neurons of a large sector of VLPF to a wide set of visual stimuli when monkeys simply observe them. Recent studies showed that visual responses to objects are also present in VLPF neurons coding action execution, when they are the target of the action. Thus, the second aim of the present study is to compare the visual responses of VLPF neurons when the same objects are simply observed or when they become the target of a grasping action. Our results indicate that: (1) part of VLPF visually responsive neurons respond specifically to one stimulus or to a small set of stimuli, but there is no indication of a “passive” categorical coding; (2) VLPF neuronal visual responses to objects are often modulated by the task conditions in which the object is observed, with the strongest response when the object is target of an action. These data indicate that VLPF performs an early passive description of several types of visual stimuli, that can then be used for organizing and planning behavior. This could explain the modulation of visual response both in associative learning and in natural behavior.

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