Songbird learning

Question 1

What are some of the similarities between bird song learning and human language learning?

Answer 1

Similar brain regions involved
Both have a critical period
Experience and auditory feedback are needed during the process

Question 2

What are the three pathways underlying birdsong?

Answer 2

Auditory pathway
Anterior forebrain pathway
Song production pathway

Question 3

What organ produces sound in birds?

Answer 3

The syrinx

Question 4

What are the different subunits within song?

Answer 4

Notes
Syllables
Phrases

Question 5

What are the three stages of song development?

Answer 5

Sensory
Sensori-motor phase (subsong and plastic stages)
Crystallised (species specific phrases, permanent)

Question 6

What experiment was carried out to find out whether or not birds need to hear themselves sing?

Answer 6

Konishi (1965)
Juveniles were allowed to hear a song during the sensory period before having their cochleas removed before the sensori-motor period
Resulted in completely disrupted song

Question 7

What evidence is there for the song production pathway?

Answer 7

HVc and RA are active just before singing and passing an electric current through them causes a phase advance in singing
Lesioning in one of the nuclei of the pathway or of nerves in it disrupts song production (Nottenbohm)

Question 8

What evidence is there for the anterior forebrain pathway?

Answer 8

Supposedly contains the template for songlearning
Lesioning Area X in young birds prevents them learning to sing. Lesioning after the critical period however has virtually no effect

Question 9

What has research on song selective neurons shown?

Answer 9

The neurons show a greater response to their own song than other adults or the tutor song.
However, when the song is played backwards there is barely any response which shows that the neurons recognise a sequence not just frequencies