1
|
Méndez JM, Cooper BG, Goller F. Note similarities affect syntactic stability in zebra finches. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2024:10.1007/s00359-024-01713-6. [PMID: 39133335 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-024-01713-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2024] [Revised: 07/30/2024] [Accepted: 08/05/2024] [Indexed: 08/13/2024]
Abstract
The acquisition of an acoustic template is a fundamental component of vocal imitation learning, which is used to refine innate vocalizations and develop a species-specific song. In the absence of a model, birds fail to develop species typical songs. In zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), tutored birds produce songs with a stereotyped sequence of distinct acoustic elements, or notes, which form the song motif. Songs of untutored individuals feature atypical acoustic and temporal structure. Here we studied songs and associated respiratory patterns of tutored and untutored male zebra finches to investigate whether similar acoustic notes influence the sequence of song elements. A subgroup of animals developed songs with multiple acoustically similar notes that are produced with alike respiratory motor gestures. These birds also showed increased syntactic variability in their adult motif. Sequence variability tended to occur near song elements which showed high similarity in acoustic structure and underlying respiratory motor gestures. The duration and depth of the inspirations preceding the syllables where syntactic variation occurred did not allow prediction of the following sequence of notes, suggesting that the varying duration and air requirement of the following expiratory pulse is not predictively encoded in the motor program. This study provides a novel method for calculation of motor/acoustic similarity, and the results of this study suggest that the note is a fundamental acoustic unit in the organization of the motif and could play a role in the neural code for song syntax.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jorge M Méndez
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Minnesota State University-Mankato, Mankato, MN, USA.
| | - Brenton G Cooper
- Department of Psychology, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX, USA
| | - Franz Goller
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Institute of Zoophysiology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Bistel R, Amador A, Mindlin GB. Response of wild songbirds to songs synthesized with a low-dimensional model. Phys Rev E 2024; 109:054410. [PMID: 38907439 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.109.054410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 06/24/2024]
Abstract
In this work, we used a dynamical system derived from an avian vocal production model to generate synthetic songs that mimic the Zonotrichia capensis songs. We confirmed that these synthetic renditions elicited behavioral responses similar to those evoked by real songs in wild songbirds of the same species. Specifically, we observed an increase in the singing rate of individual birds when a playback device was introduced into their territories. The success of our approach instills confidence in the hypotheses underpinning the model and provides a valuable tool for investigating a wide range of biological questions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Bistel
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Física, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Instituto de Física Interdisciplinaria y Aplicada (INFINA), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ana Amador
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Física, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Instituto de Física Interdisciplinaria y Aplicada (INFINA), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gabriel B Mindlin
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Física, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Instituto de Física Interdisciplinaria y Aplicada (INFINA), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Matemática Aplicada, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Döppler JF, Atencio M, Amador A, Mindlin GB. Synthesizing avian dreams. CHAOS (WOODBURY, N.Y.) 2024; 34:043103. [PMID: 38558050 DOI: 10.1063/5.0194301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
During sleep, sporadically, it is possible to find neural patterns of activity in areas of the avian brain that are activated during the generation of the song. It has recently been found that in the vocal muscles of a sleeping bird, it is possible to detect activity patterns during these silent replays. In this work, we employ a dynamical systems model for song production in suboscine birds in order to translate the vocal muscles activity during sleep into synthetic songs. Besides allowing us to translate muscle activity into behavior, we argue that this approach poses the biomechanics as a unique window into the avian brain, with biophysical models as its probe.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Juan F Döppler
- Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 1428, Argentina
- INFINA, CONICET, Buenos Aires 1428, Argentina
| | - Melina Atencio
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución & IEGEBA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 1428, Argentina
| | - Ana Amador
- Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 1428, Argentina
- INFINA, CONICET, Buenos Aires 1428, Argentina
| | - Gabriel B Mindlin
- Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 1428, Argentina
- INFINA, CONICET, Buenos Aires 1428, Argentina
- Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid 28008, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Amador A, Mindlin GB. Synthetic Birdsongs as a Tool to Induce, and Iisten to, Replay Activity in Sleeping Birds. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:647978. [PMID: 34290576 PMCID: PMC8287859 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.647978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2020] [Accepted: 06/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Birdsong is a complex vocal behavior, which emerges out of the interaction between a nervous system and a highly nonlinear vocal device, the syrinx. In this work we discuss how low dimensional dynamical systems, interpretable in terms of the biomechanics involved, are capable of synthesizing realistic songs. We review the experimental and conceptual steps that lead to the formulation of low dimensional dynamical systems for the song system and describe the tests that quantify their success. In particular, we show how to evaluate computational models by comparing the responses of highly selective neurons to the bird's own song and to synthetic copies generated mathematically. Beyond testing the hypothesis behind the model's construction, these low dimensional models allow designing precise stimuli in order to explore the sensorimotor integration of acoustic signals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ana Amador
- Department of Physics, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- IFIBA, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gabriel B. Mindlin
- Department of Physics, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- IFIBA, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Döppler JF, Peltier M, Amador A, Goller F, Mindlin GB. Replay of innate vocal patterns during night sleep in suboscines. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210610. [PMID: 34187198 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Activation of forebrain circuitry during sleep has been variably characterized as 'pre- or replay' and has been linked to memory consolidation. The evolutionary origins of this mechanism, however, are unknown. Sleep activation of the sensorimotor pathways of learned birdsong is a particularly useful model system because the muscles controlling the vocal organ are activated, revealing syringeal activity patterns for direct comparison with those of daytime vocal activity. Here, we show that suboscine birds, which develop their species-typical songs innately without the elaborate forebrain-thalamic circuitry of the vocal learning taxa, also engage in replay during sleep. In two tyrannid species, the characteristic syringeal activation patterns of the song could also be identified during sleep. Similar to song-learning oscines, the burst structure was more variable during sleep than daytime song production. In kiskadees (Pitangus sulphuratus), a second vocalization, which is part of a multi-modal display, was also replayed during sleep along with one component of the visual display. These data show unambiguously that variable 'replay' of stereotyped vocal motor programmes is not restricted to programmes confined within forebrain circuitry. The proposed effects on vocal motor programme maintenance are, therefore, building on a pre-existing neural mechanism that predates the evolution of learned vocal motor behaviour.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Juan F Döppler
- Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,IFIBA, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Manon Peltier
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Ana Amador
- Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,IFIBA, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Franz Goller
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.,Institute of Zoophysiology, University of Münster, Munster, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
| | - Gabriel B Mindlin
- Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,IFIBA, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Mooney R. The neurobiology of innate and learned vocalizations in rodents and songbirds. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2020; 64:24-31. [PMID: 32086177 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2020.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2019] [Revised: 11/26/2019] [Accepted: 01/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Vocalizations are an important medium for sexual and social signaling in mammals and birds. In most mammals other than humans, vocalizations are specified by innate mechanisms and develop normally in the absence of auditory experience. By contrast, juvenile songbirds memorize and copy the songs of adult tutors, a process with many parallels to human speech learning. Despite the centrality of vocal learning to human speech, vocal production in humans as well as in songbirds exploits ancestral circuitry for innate vocalizations, and effective vocal communication depends on the fluent blending of innate and learned elements. This review covers recent advances in our understanding of central mechanisms for learned and innate vocalizations in birds and mice, including brainstem mechanisms that help to 'gate' vocalizations on or off, cortical involvement in learned and innate vocalizations, and the delineation of circuits that evaluate and reinforce song performance to facilitate vocal learning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Richard Mooney
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27705, United States.
| |
Collapse
|