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Lameira AR, Caneco B, Kershenbaum A, Santamaría-Bonfil G, Call J. Generative vocal plasticity in chimpanzees. iScience 2025; 28:112381. [PMID: 40322082 PMCID: PMC12049825 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2024] [Revised: 01/15/2025] [Accepted: 04/04/2025] [Indexed: 05/08/2025] Open
Abstract
Modern theory posits that human-ape differences in voice command account for speech evolution. However, comparison has been indirect and conjectural based on vocal learning taxa far related from Hominids, instead of direct and quantitative based on great ape calls that, like all speech sounds, are local-specific and non-universal to the species. Moreover, the null hypothesis that the great ape voice command is purely reflexive has never been directly tested. Here, we show that in controlled, constant experimental settings, captive chimpanzees exhibit high-dimensional dexterity over voice activation and modulation in two atypical vowel-like calls. Subjects made unrestricted, multidimensional, and distinct voice changes within and between individuals, inducing parameter changes up to 10,000%, rejecting null hypothesis' predictions. Forecasting models indicated unmitigated voice novelty, altogether demonstrating emancipated and vast real-time voice control. Findings show that, contrary to traditional assumptions, speech and song evolution likely hinged on prolific voice command already available in ancestral ape-like ancestors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Arik Kershenbaum
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Girton College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Josep Call
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
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2
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Zhang EQ, Shi ER, Pleyer M. Category Learning as a Cognitive Foundation of Language Evolution. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2025; 16:e70007. [PMID: 40411358 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.70007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2024] [Revised: 02/24/2025] [Accepted: 05/13/2025] [Indexed: 05/26/2025]
Abstract
Category learning gives rise to category formation, which is a crucial ability in human cognition. Category learning is also one of the required learning abilities in language development. Understanding the evolution of category learning thus can shed light on the evolution of human cognition and language. The current paper emphasizes its foundational role in language evolution by reviewing behavioral and neurological studies on category learning across species. In doing so, we first review studies on the critical role of category learning in learning sounds, words, and grammatical patterns of language. Next, from a comparative perspective, we review studies on category learning conducted on different species of nonhuman animals, including invertebrates and vertebrates, suggesting that category learning displays evolutionary continuity. Then, from a neurological perspective, we focus on the prefrontal cortex and the basal ganglia. Reviewing the involvement of these structures in vertebrates and the proposed homologous brain structure to the basal ganglia in invertebrates in category learning, as well as in language processing in humans, suggests that the neural basis of category learning likely has an ancient origin dating back to invertebrates. With evidence from both behavioral and neurological levels in both nonhuman animals and humans, we conclude that category learning lays a crucial cognitive foundation for language evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Qing Zhang
- School of Linguistic Sciences and Arts, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China
| | - Edward Ruoyang Shi
- Department of Translation and Language Sciences, University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Michael Pleyer
- Center for Language Evolution Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Toruń, Poland
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3
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Kasdin J, Duffy A, Nadler N, Raha A, Fairhall AL, Stachenfeld KL, Gadagkar V. Natural behaviour is learned through dopamine-mediated reinforcement. Nature 2025; 641:699-706. [PMID: 40074908 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08729-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2024] [Accepted: 02/03/2025] [Indexed: 03/14/2025]
Abstract
Many natural motor skills, such as speaking or locomotion, are acquired through a process of trial-and-error learning over the course of development. It has long been hypothesized, motivated by observations in artificial learning experiments, that dopamine has a crucial role in this process. Dopamine in the basal ganglia is thought to guide reward-based trial-and-error learning by encoding reward prediction errors1, decreasing after worse-than-predicted reward outcomes and increasing after better-than-predicted ones. Our previous work in adult zebra finches-in which we changed the perceived song quality with distorted auditory feedback-showed that dopamine in Area X, the singing-related basal ganglia, encodes performance prediction error: dopamine is suppressed after worse-than-predicted (distorted syllables) and activated after better-than-predicted (undistorted syllables) performance2. However, it remains unknown whether the learning of natural behaviours, such as developmental vocal learning, occurs through dopamine-based reinforcement. Here we tracked song learning trajectories in juvenile zebra finches and used fibre photometry3 to monitor concurrent dopamine activity in Area X. We found that dopamine was activated after syllable renditions that were closer to the eventual adult version of the song, compared with recent renditions, and suppressed after renditions that were further away. Furthermore, the relationship between dopamine and song fluctuations revealed that dopamine predicted the future evolution of song, suggesting that dopamine drives behaviour. Finally, dopamine activity was explained by the contrast between the quality of the current rendition and the recent history of renditions-consistent with dopamine's hypothesized role in encoding prediction errors in an actor-critic reinforcement-learning model4,5. Reinforcement-learning algorithms6 have emerged as a powerful class of model to explain learning in reward-based laboratory tasks, as well as for driving autonomous learning in artificial intelligence7. Our results suggest that complex natural behaviours in biological systems can also be acquired through dopamine-mediated reinforcement learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Kasdin
- Department of Neuroscience, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Alison Duffy
- Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics and Computational Neuroscience Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Nathan Nadler
- Department of Neuroscience, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Arnav Raha
- Department of Neuroscience, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Adrienne L Fairhall
- Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics and Computational Neuroscience Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Kimberly L Stachenfeld
- Department of Neuroscience, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Google DeepMind, New York, NY, USA
| | - Vikram Gadagkar
- Department of Neuroscience, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
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4
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Gedman GL, Kimball TH, Atkinson LL, Factor D, Vojtova G, Farias-Virgens M, Wright TF, White SA. CHIRP-Seq: FOXP2 transcriptional targets in zebra finch brain include numerous speech and language-related genes. BMC Neurosci 2025; 26:29. [PMID: 40281419 PMCID: PMC12032786 DOI: 10.1186/s12868-025-00948-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/21/2025] [Indexed: 04/29/2025] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Vocal learning is a rare, convergent trait that is fundamental to both human speech and birdsong. The Forkhead Box P2 (FOXP2) transcription factor appears necessary for both types of learned signals, as human mutations in FOXP2 result in speech deficits, and disrupting its expression in zebra finches impairs male-specific song learning. In juvenile and adult male finches, striatal FOXP2 mRNA and protein decline acutely within song-dedicated neurons during singing, indicating that its transcriptional targets are also behaviorally regulated. The identities of these targets in songbirds, and whether they differ across sex, development and/or behavioral conditions, are largely unknown. RESULTS Here we used chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-Seq) to identify genomic sites bound by FOXP2 in male and female, juvenile and adult, and singing and non-singing birds. Our results suggest robust FOXP2 binding concentrated in putative promoter regions of genes. The number of genes likely to be bound by FOXP2 varied across conditions, suggesting specialized roles of the candidate targets related to sex, age, and behavioral state. We interrogated these binding targets both bioinformatically, with comparisons to previous studies, and biochemically, with immunohistochemistry using an antibody for a putative target gene. Gene ontology analyses revealed enrichment for human speech- and language-related functions in males only, consistent with the sexual dimorphism of song learning in this species. Fewer such targets were found in juveniles relative to adults, suggesting an expansion of this regulatory network with maturation. The fewest speech-related targets were found in the singing condition, consistent with the well-documented singing-driven down-regulation of FOXP2 in the songbird striatum. CONCLUSIONS Overall, these data provide an initial catalog of the regulatory landscape of FOXP2 in an avian vocal learner, offering dozens of target genes for future study and providing insight into the molecular underpinnings of vocal learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory L Gedman
- Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
| | - Todd H Kimball
- Interdepartmental Program in Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Lee L Atkinson
- Interdepartmental Program in Neuroscience, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Daniella Factor
- Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Gabriela Vojtova
- Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Madza Farias-Virgens
- Interdepartmental Program in Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Timothy F Wright
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA
| | - Stephanie A White
- Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
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Neunuebel J. Bird brains help scientists to unveil the secrets of speech. Nature 2025; 640:326-327. [PMID: 40108379 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-025-00680-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/22/2025]
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Lameira AR. Vocal Learning Versus Speech Evolution: Untangling a False Equivalence. Ecol Evol 2025; 15:e71241. [PMID: 40190798 PMCID: PMC11968774 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.71241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2025] [Revised: 03/11/2025] [Accepted: 03/26/2025] [Indexed: 04/09/2025] Open
Abstract
The evolution of speech remains one of the most profound and unresolved questions in science. Despite significant advancements in comparative research, key assumptions about the evolutionary precursors of speech continue to be accepted with minimal scrutiny. One such assumption is the widely held belief that vocal learning-the ability to imitate and modify vocalizations-was an obligatory precondition for speech evolution. However, by the time ape-like human ancestors emerged amid Miocene's forests, the ancestors of vocal learning species already walked the Earth and flew the skies. A head-start of millions of years of vocal evolution didn't produce linguistic elephants, bats, or birds, suggesting that hominids' humble vocal beginnings were determinant for verbal evolution. Current evidence on extant great ape calls provides new details and insight into the extinct vocal forms and functions that allowed human ancestors to jump-start speech evolution. By reconsidering the evolutionary processes that led to speech, this paper advocates for a shift in focus toward the hominid biotope, body, brain, and behavior, rather than treating speech as the pinnacle endpoint of vocal learning evolution and drawing misleading parallels with far-related vocal learners.
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Fainstein F, Goller F, Mindlin GB. Song-like activation of syringeal and respiratory muscles during sleep in canaries. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2025; 211:135-148. [PMID: 39404890 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-024-01720-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2024] [Revised: 10/03/2024] [Accepted: 10/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/18/2025]
Abstract
Sleep replay activity involves the reactivation of brain structures with patterns similar to those observed during waking behavior. In this study, we demonstrate that adult male canaries exhibit spontaneous, song-like peripheral reactivation during night sleep. Our findings include: (1) the presence of activity in respiratory muscles, leading to song-like air sac pressure patterns of low amplitude, (2) the simultaneous occurrence of respiratory replay events and reactivation of syringeal muscles, and (3) the reactivation of syringeal muscles without concurrent respiratory system activity. This song-like reactivation of peripheral motor systems enables the identification of specific motor patterns, with replay events preserving individual morphological and temporal properties. The activation of peripheral motor systems in songbirds and the differences in activation patterns between species give unique insights into the fictive behavioral output of activation of a complex learned motor behavior during sleep, shedding light on the neural control mechanisms and potential functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Facundo Fainstein
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Física, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires, 1428, Argentina
- Instituto de Física Interdisciplinaria y Aplicada (INFINA), CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires, 1428, Argentina
| | - Franz Goller
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA
- Institute for Integrative Cell Biology and Physiology, University of Münster, Münster, 48149, Germany
| | - Gabriel B Mindlin
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Física, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires, 1428, Argentina.
- Instituto de Física Interdisciplinaria y Aplicada (INFINA), CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires, 1428, Argentina.
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8
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Goller F. Respiratory contributions to birdsong-evolutionary considerations and open questions. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2025; 380:20230431. [PMID: 40010385 PMCID: PMC11864833 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2024] [Revised: 07/04/2024] [Accepted: 09/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2025] Open
Abstract
Respiration plays a central role in avian vocal behaviour by providing the airstream that induces vibration of vocal folds. In this role, respiratory movements dictate the coarse temporal pattern of song, while simultaneously fulfilling its vital functions. Whereas these aspects have been investigated in oscines, little information exists in other taxa. Broad taxonomic information is, however, necessary for addressing questions regarding evolutionary specializations of the respiratory system. Acoustic recordings of unstudied taxa suggest that rapid action by respiratory muscles is a basal trait within birds. In addition to controlling the timing of vocalization, respiratory activity also influences acoustic features such as sound amplitude and frequency. The latter is more strongly influenced by respiratory driving pressure in non-vocal learners. Singing, as a highly dynamic respiratory activity presents an opportunity for studying detailed ventilation patterns and thus could give insight into the basic control of airflow in the avian lung-air sac system. Although we have learned many details of how respiratory control is tied into cortical song control, many open questions remain. Control of respiratory pacemaker circuitry by upstream vocal control centres, respiratory input in initiation of vocalization and the use of online feedback from the respiratory system are all incompletely understood.This article is part of the theme issue 'The biology of the avian respiratory system'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franz Goller
- Institute for Integrative Cell Biology and Physiology, University of Münster, Münster48149, Germany
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT84112, USA
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9
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Tajima Y, Vargas CDM, Ito K, Wang W, Luo JD, Xing J, Kuru N, Machado LC, Siepel A, Carroll TS, Jarvis ED, Darnell RB. A humanized NOVA1 splicing factor alters mouse vocal communications. Nat Commun 2025; 16:1542. [PMID: 39966351 PMCID: PMC11836289 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56579-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 01/21/2025] [Indexed: 02/20/2025] Open
Abstract
NOVA1, a neuronal RNA-binding protein expressed in the central nervous system, is essential for survival in mice and normal development in humans. A single amino acid change (I197V) in NOVA1's second RNA binding domain is unique to modern humans. To study its physiological effects, we generated mice carrying the human-specific I197V variant (Nova1hu/hu) and analyzed the molecular and behavioral consequences. While the I197V substitution had minimal impact on NOVA1's RNA binding capacity, it led to specific effects on alternative splicing, and CLIP revealed multiple binding peaks in mouse brain transcripts involved in vocalization. These molecular findings were associated with behavioral differences in vocalization patterns in Nova1hu/hu mice as pups and adults. Our findings suggest that this human-specific NOVA1 substitution may have been part of an ancient evolutionary selective sweep in a common ancestral population of Homo sapiens, possibly contributing to the development of spoken language through differential RNA regulation during brain development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoko Tajima
- The Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-oncology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
| | - César D M Vargas
- The Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Keiichi Ito
- The Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Wei Wang
- Bioinformatics Resource Center, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ji-Dung Luo
- Bioinformatics Resource Center, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jiawei Xing
- Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, NY, USA
| | - Nurdan Kuru
- Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, NY, USA
| | - Luiz Carlos Machado
- Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, NY, USA
| | - Adam Siepel
- Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, NY, USA
| | - Thomas S Carroll
- Bioinformatics Resource Center, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Erich D Jarvis
- The Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Robert B Darnell
- The Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-oncology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
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10
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Smeltz SML, Deimeke MJ, Sahu PK, Montenegro C, Stenstrom KH, Starenchak I, Rennie V, Ebrahim IM, Jones JA, Sturdy CB. Individual vocal identity may be obscured following colony assembly in captive black-capped chickadees. Behav Processes 2025; 225:105151. [PMID: 39880221 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2024] [Revised: 01/23/2025] [Accepted: 01/24/2025] [Indexed: 01/31/2025]
Abstract
Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) vocalisations remain plastic throughout their lifespans. Although fledglings employ vocal plasticity to refine their vocalisations through the use of tutor mimicry, adults employ vocal plasticity to create unique population dialects. Vocal convergence is one mechanism by which flockmates' vocalisations become increasingly similar to each other and distinct from the calls of other flocks. Chick-a-dee call plasticity via vocal convergence has been observed in wild and group aviary-housed laboratory chickadee flocks. Our study aimed to answer whether individually-housed laboratory chickadee colonies possess unique vocal dialects similar to wild populations. A group of six individually-housed chickadees from two laboratory colony rooms were introduced to a new experimental colony room. Calls were recorded at baseline and weekly thereafter for eight weeks. We then conducted an operant conditioning study using a Go/No-go paradigm with birds not included in our experimental-colony, to determine whether black-capped chickadees could discriminate between calls from the two laboratory colonies, using four experimental-colony birds' baseline pre-assembly recordings as discriminative stimuli. We tested generalisation using novel, pre-assembly calls from the remaining two experimental-colony birds. Next, we tested whether chickadees perceived a change in calls following experimental-colony assembly, putatively indicative of vocal plasticity, marked by a decrease in discrimination accuracy. Chickadees successfully discriminated reinforced from non-reinforced calls using pre-assembly calls, but did not generalise this learning when later presented with novel pre-assembly calls from new birds. We posit that instead of employing colony-based discrimination, chickadees relied on individual-based discrimination. Chickadees were also not able to generalise their learning when presented with post-assembly calls from the same birds. Our findings suggest that chickadees were able to discriminate among individuals', but not colonies', chick-a-dee calls in an operant-conditioning procedure. Furthermore, chickadees can perceive differences in pre-versus-post assembly calls. Taken together, these findings suggest that group and individual identity information may be correlated, as post-assembly vocal plasticity impeded individual discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M L Smeltz
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
| | - Moriah J Deimeke
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
| | - Prateek K Sahu
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
| | - Carolina Montenegro
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
| | - Katharine H Stenstrom
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
| | - Ilex Starenchak
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
| | - Victoria Rennie
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
| | - Inaara M Ebrahim
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
| | - John Anthony Jones
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
| | - Christopher B Sturdy
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada; Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute, University of Alberta, 2-132 Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Research Innovation, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada.
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11
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Verpooten J, De Tiège A. Animal artefacts challenge archaeological standards for tracing human symbolic cognition. Behav Brain Sci 2025; 48:e21. [PMID: 39807708 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x24000967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2025]
Abstract
Stibbard-Hawkes challenges the link between symbolic material evidence and behavioural modernity. Extending this to non-human species, we find that personal adornment, decoration, figurative art, and musical instruments may not uniquely distinguish human cognition. These common criteria may ineffectively distinguish symbolic from non-symbolic cognition or symbolic cognition is not uniquely human. It highlights the need for broader comparative perspectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Verpooten
- Behavioural Engineering Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium ://www.janverpooten.com/
- Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Alexis De Tiège
- Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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12
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Valle-Bautista R, Olivera-Acevedo M, Horta-Brussolo VR, Díaz NF, Ávila-González D, Molina-Hernández A. From songbird to humans: The multifaceted roles of FOXP2 in speech and motor learning. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 167:105936. [PMID: 39510218 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2024] [Revised: 09/24/2024] [Accepted: 10/30/2024] [Indexed: 11/15/2024]
Abstract
Motor learning involves a complex network of brain structures and is crucial for tasks like speech. The cerebral cortex, subcortical nuclei, and cerebellum are involved in motor learning and vocalization. Vocal learning has been demonstrated across species. However, it is a task that should be further studied and reevaluated, particularly in species considered non-vocal learners, to potentially uncover new insights. FOXP2, a transcription factor, has been implicated in speech learning and execution. Several variants have been involved in speech and cognitive impairments; the most studied is the R553H, found in the KE family, where more than half of the members show verbal dyspraxia. Brain FOXP2 expression shows consistent patterns across species in regions associated with motor learning and execution. Animal models expressing mutated FOXP2 showed impaired motor learning and vocalization. Genes regulated by FOXP2 are related to neural differentiation, connectivity, and synaptic plasticity, indicating its role in brain development and function. This review explores the intricate relationship between FOXP2, motor learning, and speech in an anatomical and functional context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rocío Valle-Bautista
- Departamento de Fisiología y Desarrollo Celular, Instituto Nacional de Perinatología Isidro Espinosa de los Reyes, Montes Urales 800, Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México 11000, Mexico
| | - Monserrath Olivera-Acevedo
- Departamento de Fisiología y Desarrollo Celular, Instituto Nacional de Perinatología Isidro Espinosa de los Reyes, Montes Urales 800, Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México 11000, Mexico; Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Ciudad de México, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Colombia
| | - Victoria Regina Horta-Brussolo
- Departamento de Fisiología y Desarrollo Celular, Instituto Nacional de Perinatología Isidro Espinosa de los Reyes, Montes Urales 800, Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México 11000, Mexico; Departamento de Fisiología, Biofísica y Neurociencias, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, CINVESTAV-IPN, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Néstor Fabián Díaz
- Departamento de Fisiología y Desarrollo Celular, Instituto Nacional de Perinatología Isidro Espinosa de los Reyes, Montes Urales 800, Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México 11000, Mexico
| | - Daniela Ávila-González
- Departamento de Fisiología y Desarrollo Celular, Instituto Nacional de Perinatología Isidro Espinosa de los Reyes, Montes Urales 800, Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México 11000, Mexico
| | - Anayansi Molina-Hernández
- Departamento de Fisiología y Desarrollo Celular, Instituto Nacional de Perinatología Isidro Espinosa de los Reyes, Montes Urales 800, Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México 11000, Mexico.
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13
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Patel AD. Beat-based dancing to music has evolutionary foundations in advanced vocal learning. BMC Neurosci 2024; 25:65. [PMID: 39506663 PMCID: PMC11539772 DOI: 10.1186/s12868-024-00843-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 11/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Dancing to music is ancient and widespread in human cultures. While dance shows great cultural diversity, it often involves nonvocal rhythmic movements synchronized to musical beats in a predictive and tempo-flexible manner. To date, the only nonhuman animals known to spontaneously move to music in this way are parrots. This paper proposes that human-parrot similarities in movement to music and in the neurobiology of advanced vocal learning hold clues to the evolutionary foundations of human dance. The proposal draws on recent research on the neurobiology of parrot vocal learning by Jarvis and colleagues and on a recent cortical model for speech motor control by Hickock and colleagues. These two lines of work are synthesized to suggest that gene regulation changes associated with the evolution of a dorsal laryngeal pitch control pathway in ancestral humans fortuitously strengthened auditory-parietal cortical connections that support beat-based rhythmic processing. More generally, the proposal aims to explain how and why the evolution of strong forebrain auditory-motor integration in the service of learned vocal control led to a capacity and proclivity to synchronize nonvocal movements to the beat. The proposal specifies cortical brain pathways implicated in the origins of human beat-based dancing and leads to testable predictions and suggestions for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aniruddh D Patel
- Department of Psychology, Tufts University, 490 Boston Ave., Medford, MA, 02155, USA.
- Program in Brain, Mind, and Consciousness, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada.
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14
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Karpowicz BM, Ye J, Fan C, Tostado-Marcos P, Rizzoglio F, Washington C, Scodeler T, de Lucena D, Nason-Tomaszewski SR, Mender MJ, Ma X, Arneodo EM, Hochberg LR, Chestek CA, Henderson JM, Gentner TQ, Gilja V, Miller LE, Rouse AG, Gaunt RA, Collinger JL, Pandarinath C. Few-shot Algorithms for Consistent Neural Decoding (FALCON) Benchmark. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.09.15.613126. [PMID: 39345641 PMCID: PMC11429771 DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.15.613126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/01/2024]
Abstract
Intracortical brain-computer interfaces (iBCIs) can restore movement and communication abilities to individuals with paralysis by decoding their intended behavior from neural activity recorded with an implanted device. While this activity yields high-performance decoding over short timescales, neural data are often nonstationary, which can lead to decoder failure if not accounted for. To maintain performance, users must frequently recalibrate decoders, which requires the arduous collection of new neural and behavioral data. Aiming to reduce this burden, several approaches have been developed that either limit recalibration data requirements (few-shot approaches) or eliminate explicit recalibration entirely (zero-shot approaches). However, progress is limited by a lack of standardized datasets and comparison metrics, causing methods to be compared in an ad hoc manner. Here we introduce the FALCON benchmark suite (Few-shot Algorithms for COnsistent Neural decoding) to standardize evaluation of iBCI robustness. FALCON curates five datasets of neural and behavioral data that span movement and communication tasks to focus on behaviors of interest to modern-day iBCIs. Each dataset includes calibration data, optional few-shot recalibration data, and private evaluation data. We implement a flexible evaluation platform which only requires user-submitted code to return behavioral predictions on unseen data. We also seed the benchmark by applying baseline methods spanning several classes of possible approaches. FALCON aims to provide rigorous selection criteria for robust iBCI decoders, easing their translation to real-world devices.
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15
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Bistere L, Gomez-Guzman CM, Xiong Y, Vallentin D. Female calls promote song learning in male juvenile zebra finches. Nat Commun 2024; 15:8938. [PMID: 39414810 PMCID: PMC11484889 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53251-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/07/2024] [Indexed: 10/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Social interactions promote vocal learning, but the impact of social feedback on this process and its neural circuitry is not well understood. We studied song imitation in juvenile male zebra finches raised either in the presence or absence of adult females. Juveniles learned songs more accurately with a female present, suggesting her presence improves imitation. When female calls correlated with practice, tutees' songs better resembled the tutor's, hinting toward the possibility that females provide practice-specific vocalizations. Intracellular recordings of HVC projection neurons revealed that a subset of these neurons in both juveniles and adults is sensitive to female calls during listening, suggesting a consistent neural mechanism for processing important vocalizations, regardless of age. However, call-related neural responses during singing were observed only in juveniles. These findings highlight how vocalizations, beyond those of the tutor, influence the neural circuits for vocal learning and production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda Bistere
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Seewiesen, Germany
| | | | | | - Daniela Vallentin
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Seewiesen, Germany.
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16
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Huang LZ, Cao Y, Janse E, Piai V. Functional Roles of Sensorimotor Alpha and Beta Oscillations in Overt Speech Production. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.09.04.611312. [PMID: 39416142 PMCID: PMC11482788 DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.04.611312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2024]
Abstract
Power decreases, or desynchronization, of sensorimotor alpha and beta oscillations (i.e., alpha and beta ERD) have long been considered as indices of sensorimotor control in overt speech production. However, their specific functional roles are not well understood. Hence, we first conducted a systematic review to investigate how these two oscillations are modulated by speech motor tasks in typically fluent speakers (TFS) and in persons who stutter (PWS). Eleven EEG/MEG papers with source localization were included in our systematic review. The results revealed consistent alpha and beta ERD in the sensorimotor cortex of TFS and PWS. Furthermore, the results suggested that sensorimotor alpha and beta ERD may be functionally dissociable, with alpha related to (somato-)sensory feedback processing during articulation and beta related to motor processes throughout planning and articulation. To (partly) test this hypothesis of a potential functional dissociation between alpha and beta ERD, we then analyzed existing intracranial electro-encephalography (iEEG) data from the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) of picture naming. We found moderate evidence for alpha, but not beta, ERD's sensitivity to speech movements in S1, lending supporting evidence for the functional dissociation hypothesis identified by the systematic review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia Z. Huang
- School of Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Yang Cao
- Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Esther Janse
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Vitória Piai
- Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
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17
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Duengen D, Jadoul Y, Ravignani A. Vocal usage learning and vocal comprehension learning in harbor seals. BMC Neurosci 2024; 25:48. [PMID: 39367300 PMCID: PMC11451073 DOI: 10.1186/s12868-024-00899-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 09/19/2024] [Indexed: 10/06/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Which mammals show vocal learning abilities, e.g., can learn new sounds, or learn to use sounds in new contexts? Vocal usage and comprehension learning are submodules of vocal learning. Specifically, vocal usage learning is the ability to learn to use a vocalization in a new context; vocal comprehension learning is the ability to comprehend a vocalization in a new context. Among mammals, harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) are good candidates to investigate vocal learning. Here, we test whether harbor seals are capable of vocal usage and comprehension learning. RESULTS We trained two harbor seals to (i) switch contexts from a visual to an auditory cue. In particular, the seals first produced two vocalization types in response to two hand signs; they then transitioned to producing these two vocalization types upon the presentation of two distinct sets of playbacks of their own vocalizations. We then (ii) exposed the seals to a combination of trained and novel vocalization stimuli. In a final experiment, (iii) we broadcasted only novel vocalizations of the two vocalization types to test whether seals could generalize from the trained set of stimuli to only novel items of a given vocal category. Both seals learned all tasks and took ≤ 16 sessions to succeed across all experiments. In particular, the seals showed contextual learning through switching the context from former visual to novel auditory cues, vocal matching and generalization. Finally, by responding to the played-back vocalizations with distinct vocalizations, the animals showed vocal comprehension learning. CONCLUSIONS It has been suggested that harbor seals are vocal learners; however, to date, these observations had not been confirmed in controlled experiments. Here, through three experiments, we could show that harbor seals are capable of both vocal usage and comprehension learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diandra Duengen
- Comparative Bioacoustics Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Zoo Cleves ("Tiergarten Kleve"), 47533, Kleve, Germany.
| | - Yannick Jadoul
- Comparative Bioacoustics Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Andrea Ravignani
- Comparative Bioacoustics Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark.
- Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
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18
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Zhao HT, Schmidt ER. Human-specific genetic modifiers of cortical architecture and function. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2024; 88:102241. [PMID: 39111228 PMCID: PMC11547859 DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2024.102241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2024] [Revised: 06/30/2024] [Accepted: 07/23/2024] [Indexed: 09/11/2024]
Abstract
Evolution of the cerebral cortex is thought to have been critical for the emergence of our cognitive abilities. Major features of cortical evolution include increased neuron number and connectivity and altered morpho-electric properties of cortical neurons. Significant progress has been made in identifying human-specific genetic modifiers (HSGMs), some of which are involved in shaping these features of cortical architecture. But how did these evolutionary changes support the emergence of our cognitive abilities? Here, we highlight recent studies aimed at examining the impact of HSGMs on cortical circuit function and behavior. We also discuss the need for greater insight into the link between evolution of cortical architecture and the functional and computational properties of neuronal circuits, as we seek to provide a neurobiological foundation for human cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanzhi T Zhao
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Suite 403 BSB, MSC510, 173 Ashley Ave, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
| | - Ewoud Re Schmidt
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Suite 403 BSB, MSC510, 173 Ashley Ave, Charleston, SC 29425, USA.
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19
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Elie JE, Muroy SE, Genzel D, Na T, Beyer LA, Swiderski DL, Raphael Y, Yartsev MM. Role of auditory feedback for vocal production learning in the Egyptian fruit bat. Curr Biol 2024; 34:4062-4070.e7. [PMID: 39255755 PMCID: PMC11493346 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.07.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Revised: 05/24/2024] [Accepted: 07/15/2024] [Indexed: 09/12/2024]
Abstract
Some species have evolved the ability to use the sense of hearing to modify existing vocalizations, or even create new ones, which enlarges their repertoires and results in complex communication systems.1 This ability corresponds to various forms of vocal production learning that are all possessed by humans and independently displayed by distantly related vertebrates.1,2,3,4,5,6,7 Among mammals, a few species, including the Egyptian fruit bat,8,9,10 would possess such vocal production learning abilities.7 Yet the necessity of an intact auditory system for the development of the Egyptian fruit bat typical vocal repertoire has not been tested. Furthermore, a systematic causal examination of learned and innate aspects of the entire repertoire has never been performed in any vocal learner. Here we addressed these gaps by eliminating pups' sense of hearing at birth and assessing its effects on vocal production in adulthood. The deafening treatment enabled us to both causally test these bats' vocal learning ability and discern learned from innate aspects of their vocalizations. Leveraging wireless individual audio recordings from freely interacting adults, we show that a subset of the Egyptian fruit bat vocal repertoire necessitates auditory feedback. Intriguingly, these affected vocalizations belong to different acoustic groups in the vocal repertoire of males and females. These findings open the possibilities for targeted studies of the mammalian neural circuits that enable sexually dimorphic forms of vocal learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie E Elie
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
| | - Sandra E Muroy
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Daria Genzel
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Tong Na
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Lisa A Beyer
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Michigan Medicine, Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, 1150 Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5616, USA
| | - Donald L Swiderski
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Michigan Medicine, Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, 1150 Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5616, USA
| | - Yehoash Raphael
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Michigan Medicine, Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, 1150 Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5616, USA
| | - Michael M Yartsev
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
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20
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Hage SR. Language evolution in primates. Science 2024; 385:713-714. [PMID: 39146430 DOI: 10.1126/science.ado4341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/17/2024]
Abstract
Human speech evolution is not just about having a speech-ready brain and vocal apparatus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steffen R Hage
- Neurobiology of Social Communication, Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Hearing Research Centre, University of Tübingen, Medical Center, Tübingen, Germany
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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21
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Moussaoui B, Ulmer K, Araya-Salas M, Wright TF. Persistent vocal learning in an aging open-ended learner reflected in neural FoxP2 expression. BMC Neurosci 2024; 25:31. [PMID: 38965498 PMCID: PMC11225193 DOI: 10.1186/s12868-024-00879-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 07/06/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Most vocal learning species exhibit an early critical period during which their vocal control neural circuitry facilitates the acquisition of new vocalizations. Some taxa, most notably humans and parrots, retain some degree of neurobehavioral plasticity throughout adulthood, but both the extent of this plasticity and the neurogenetic mechanisms underlying it remain unclear. Differential expression of the transcription factor FoxP2 in both songbird and parrot vocal control nuclei has been identified previously as a key pattern facilitating vocal learning. We hypothesize that the resilience of vocal learning to cognitive decline in open-ended learners will be reflected in an absence of age-related changes in neural FoxP2 expression. We tested this hypothesis in the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), a small gregarious parrot in which adults converge on shared call types in response to shifts in group membership. We formed novel flocks of 4 previously unfamiliar males belonging to the same age class, either "young adult" (6 mo - 1 year) or "older adult" (≥ 3 year), and then collected audio-recordings over a 20-day learning period to assess vocal learning ability. Following behavioral recording, immunohistochemistry was performed on collected neural tissue to measure FoxP2 protein expression in a parrot vocal learning center, the magnocellular nucleus of the medial striatum (MMSt), and its adjacent striatum. RESULTS Although older adults show lower vocal diversity (i.e. repertoire size) and higher absolute levels of FoxP2 in the MMSt than young adults, we find similarly persistent downregulation of FoxP2 and equivalent vocal plasticity and vocal convergence in the two age cohorts. No relationship between individual variation in vocal learning measures and FoxP2 expression was detected. CONCLUSIONS We find neural evidence to support persistent vocal learning in the budgerigar, suggesting resilience to aging in the open-ended learning program of this species. The lack of a significant relationship between FoxP2 expression and individual variability in vocal learning performance suggests that other neurogenetic mechanisms could also regulate this complex behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bushra Moussaoui
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA
| | - Kennedy Ulmer
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA
| | - Marcelo Araya-Salas
- Centro de Investigación en Neurociencias & Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
| | - Timothy F Wright
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA.
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22
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Taheri A. The partial upward migration of the laryngeal motor cortex: A window to the human brain evolution. Brain Res 2024; 1834:148892. [PMID: 38554798 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2024.148892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2024] [Revised: 03/16/2024] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
The pioneer cortical electrical stimulation studies of the last century did not explicitly mark the location of the human laryngeal motor cortex (LMC), but only the "vocalization area" in the lower half of the lateral motor cortex. In the final years of 2010́s, neuroimaging studies did demonstrate two human cortical laryngeal representations, located at the opposing ends of the orofacial motor zone, therefore termed dorsal (LMCd) and ventral laryngeal motor cortex (LMCv). Since then, there has been a continuing debate regarding the origin, function and evolutionary significance of these areas. The "local duplication model" posits that the LMCd evolved by a duplication of an adjacent region of the motor cortex. The "duplication and migration model" assumes that the dorsal LMCd arose by a duplication of motor regions related to vocalization, such as the ancestry LMC, followed by a migration into the orofacial region of the motor cortex. This paper reviews the basic arguments of these viewpoints and suggests a new explanation, declaring that the LMCd in man is rather induced through the division of the unitary LMC in nonhuman primates, upward shift and relocation of its motor part due to the disproportional growth of the head, face, mouth, lips, and tongue motor areas in the ventral part of the human motor homunculus. This explanation may be called "expansion-division and relocation model".
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Affiliation(s)
- Abbas Taheri
- Neuroscience Razi, Berlin, Germany; Former Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
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23
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Wu Y, Jarvis ED, Sarkar A. Bayesian semiparametric Markov renewal mixed models for vocalization syntax. Biostatistics 2024; 25:648-665. [PMID: 36583955 PMCID: PMC12097903 DOI: 10.1093/biostatistics/kxac050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2021] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Speech and language play an important role in human vocal communication. Studies have shown that vocal disorders can result from genetic factors. In the absence of high-quality data on humans, mouse vocalization experiments in laboratory settings have been proven useful in providing valuable insights into mammalian vocal development, including especially the impact of certain genetic mutations. Such data sets usually consist of categorical syllable sequences along with continuous intersyllable interval (ISI) times for mice of different genotypes vocalizing under different contexts. ISIs are of particular importance as increased ISIs can be an indication of possible vocal impairment. Statistical methods for properly analyzing ISIs along with the transition probabilities have however been lacking. In this article, we propose a class of novel Markov renewal mixed models that capture the stochastic dynamics of both state transitions and ISI lengths. Specifically, we model the transition dynamics and the ISIs using Dirichlet and gamma mixtures, respectively, allowing the mixture probabilities in both cases to vary flexibly with fixed covariate effects as well as random individual-specific effects. We apply our model to analyze the impact of a mutation in the Foxp2 gene on mouse vocal behavior. We find that genotypes and social contexts significantly affect the length of ISIs but, compared to previous analyses, the influences of genotype and social context on the syllable transition dynamics are weaker.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yutong Wu
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Erich D Jarvis
- Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, USA
| | - Abhra Sarkar
- Department of Statistics and Data Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA
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24
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Gedman GL, Kimball TH, Atkinson LL, Factor D, Vojtova G, Farias-Virgens M, Wright TF, White SA. CHIRP-Seq: FoxP2 transcriptional targets in zebra finch brain include numerous speech and language-related genes. RESEARCH SQUARE 2024:rs.3.rs-4542378. [PMID: 38978588 PMCID: PMC11230500 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4542378/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
Background Vocal learning is a rare, convergent trait that is fundamental to both human speech and birdsong. The Forkhead Box P2 (FoxP2) transcription factor appears necessary for both types of learned signals, as human mutations in FoxP2 result in speech deficits, and disrupting its expression in zebra finches impairs male-specific song learning. In juvenile and adult male finches, striatal FoxP2 mRNA and protein decline acutely within song-dedicated neurons during singing, indicating that its transcriptional targets are also behaviorally regulated. The identities of these targets in songbirds, and whether they differ across sex, development and/or behavioral conditions, are largely unknown. Results Here we used chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-Seq) to identify genomic sites bound by FoxP2 in male and female, juvenile and adult, and singing and non-singing birds. Our results suggest robust FoxP2 binding concentrated in putative promoter regions of genes. The number of genes likely to be bound by FoxP2 varied across conditions, suggesting specialized roles of the candidate targets related to sex, age, and behavioral state. We validated these binding targets both bioinformatically, with comparisons to previous studies and biochemically, with immunohistochemistry using an antibody for a putative target gene. Gene ontology analyses revealed enrichment for human speech- and language-related functions in males only, consistent with the sexual dimorphism of song learning in this species. Fewer such targets were found in juveniles relative to adults, suggesting an expansion of this regulatory network with maturation. The fewest speech-related targets were found in the singing condition, consistent with the well-documented singing-driven down-regulation of FoxP2 in the songbird striatum. Conclusions Overall, these data provide an initial catalog of the regulatory landscape of FoxP2 in an avian vocal learner, offering dozens of target genes for future study and providing insight into the molecular underpinnings of vocal learning.
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25
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Lindhout FW, Krienen FM, Pollard KS, Lancaster MA. A molecular and cellular perspective on human brain evolution and tempo. Nature 2024; 630:596-608. [PMID: 38898293 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07521-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
The evolution of the modern human brain was accompanied by distinct molecular and cellular specializations, which underpin our diverse cognitive abilities but also increase our susceptibility to neurological diseases. These features, some specific to humans and others shared with related species, manifest during different stages of brain development. In this multi-stage process, neural stem cells proliferate to produce a large and diverse progenitor pool, giving rise to excitatory or inhibitory neurons that integrate into circuits during further maturation. This process unfolds over varying time scales across species and has progressively become slower in the human lineage, with differences in tempo correlating with differences in brain size, cell number and diversity, and connectivity. Here we introduce the terms 'bradychrony' and 'tachycrony' to describe slowed and accelerated developmental tempos, respectively. We review how recent technical advances across disciplines, including advanced engineering of in vitro models, functional comparative genetics and high-throughput single-cell profiling, are leading to a deeper understanding of how specializations of the human brain arise during bradychronic neurodevelopment. Emerging insights point to a central role for genetics, gene-regulatory networks, cellular innovations and developmental tempo, which together contribute to the establishment of human specializations during various stages of neurodevelopment and at different points in evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feline W Lindhout
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Fenna M Krienen
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Katherine S Pollard
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Institute for Computational Health Sciences, and Institute for Human Genetics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Madeline A Lancaster
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK.
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26
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Kuhl PK. Birds and babies: Ontogeny of vocal learning. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2405626121. [PMID: 38722815 PMCID: PMC11127051 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2405626121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Patricia K. Kuhl
- Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA98195
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27
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Nevue AA, Sairavi A, Huang SJ, Nakai H, Mello CV. Genomic loss of GPR108 disrupts AAV transduction in birds. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.16.589954. [PMID: 38798475 PMCID: PMC11118497 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.16.589954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
The G protein-coupled receptor 108 (GPR108) gene encodes a protein factor identified as critical for adeno-associated virus (AAV) entry into mammalian cells, but whether it is universally involved in AAV transduction is unknown. Remarkably, we have discovered that GPR108 is absent in the genomes of birds and in most other sauropsids, providing a likely explanation for the overall lower AAV transduction efficacy of common AAV serotypes in birds compared to mammals. Importantly, transgenic expression of human GPR108 and manipulation of related glycan binding sites in the viral capsid significantly boost AAV transduction in zebra finch cells. These findings contribute to a more in depth understanding of the mechanisms and evolution of AAV transduction, with potential implications for the design of efficient tools for gene manipulation in experimental animal models, and a range of gene therapy applications in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander A Nevue
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon, USA
| | - Anusha Sairavi
- Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon, USA
| | - Samuel J Huang
- Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon, USA
| | - Hiroyuki Nakai
- Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon, USA
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon, USA
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, Oregon, USA
| | - Claudio V Mello
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon, USA
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28
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Moran IG, Loo YY, Louca S, Young NBA, Whibley A, Withers SJ, Salloum PM, Hall ML, Stanley MC, Cain KE. Vocal convergence and social proximity shape the calls of the most basal Passeriformes, New Zealand Wrens. Commun Biol 2024; 7:575. [PMID: 38750083 PMCID: PMC11096322 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06253-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Despite extensive research on avian vocal learning, we still lack a general understanding of how and when this ability evolved in birds. As the closest living relatives of the earliest Passeriformes, the New Zealand wrens (Acanthisitti) hold a key phylogenetic position for furthering our understanding of the evolution of vocal learning because they share a common ancestor with two vocal learners: oscines and parrots. However, the vocal learning abilities of New Zealand wrens remain unexplored. Here, we test for the presence of prerequisite behaviors for vocal learning in one of the two extant species of New Zealand wrens, the rifleman (Acanthisitta chloris). We detect the presence of unique individual vocal signatures and show how these signatures are shaped by social proximity, as demonstrated by group vocal signatures and strong acoustic similarities among distantly related individuals in close social proximity. Further, we reveal that rifleman calls share similar phenotypic variance ratios to those previously reported in the learned vocalizations of the zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata. Together these findings provide strong evidence that riflemen vocally converge, and though the mechanism still remains to be determined, they may also suggest that this vocal convergence is the result of rudimentary vocal learning abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ines G Moran
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, Aotearoa New Zealand.
- Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, Aotearoa New Zealand.
| | - Yen Yi Loo
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, Aotearoa New Zealand
- Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, Aotearoa New Zealand
| | - Stilianos Louca
- Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, 97403-1210, OR, USA
| | - Nick B A Young
- Centre for eResearch, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, Aotearoa New Zealand
| | - Annabel Whibley
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, Aotearoa New Zealand
| | - Sarah J Withers
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, Aotearoa New Zealand
| | - Priscila M Salloum
- Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9016, Aotearoa New Zealand
| | - Michelle L Hall
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
- Bush Heritage Australia, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia
| | - Margaret C Stanley
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, Aotearoa New Zealand
- Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, Aotearoa New Zealand
| | - Kristal E Cain
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, Aotearoa New Zealand
- Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, Aotearoa New Zealand
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29
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Sebastianelli M, Lukhele SM, Secomandi S, de Souza SG, Haase B, Moysi M, Nikiforou C, Hutfluss A, Mountcastle J, Balacco J, Pelan S, Chow W, Fedrigo O, Downs CT, Monadjem A, Dingemanse NJ, Jarvis ED, Brelsford A, vonHoldt BM, Kirschel ANG. A genomic basis of vocal rhythm in birds. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3095. [PMID: 38653976 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47305-5] [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: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Vocal rhythm plays a fundamental role in sexual selection and species recognition in birds, but little is known of its genetic basis due to the confounding effect of vocal learning in model systems. Uncovering its genetic basis could facilitate identifying genes potentially important in speciation. Here we investigate the genomic underpinnings of rhythm in vocal non-learning Pogoniulus tinkerbirds using 135 individual whole genomes distributed across a southern African hybrid zone. We find rhythm speed is associated with two genes that are also known to affect human speech, Neurexin-1 and Coenzyme Q8A. Models leveraging ancestry reveal these candidate loci also impact rhythmic stability, a trait linked with motor performance which is an indicator of quality. Character displacement in rhythmic stability suggests possible reinforcement against hybridization, supported by evidence of asymmetric assortative mating in the species producing faster, more stable rhythms. Because rhythm is omnipresent in animal communication, candidate genes identified here may shape vocal rhythm across birds and other vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Sebastianelli
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, PO Box 20537, Nicosia, 1678, Cyprus.
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Box 582, 751 23, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Sifiso M Lukhele
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, PO Box 20537, Nicosia, 1678, Cyprus
| | - Simona Secomandi
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, PO Box 20537, Nicosia, 1678, Cyprus
| | - Stacey G de Souza
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, PO Box 20537, Nicosia, 1678, Cyprus
| | - Bettina Haase
- Vertebrate Genome Lab, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Michaella Moysi
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, PO Box 20537, Nicosia, 1678, Cyprus
| | - Christos Nikiforou
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, PO Box 20537, Nicosia, 1678, Cyprus
| | - Alexander Hutfluss
- Behavioural Ecology, Faculty of Biology, LMU Munich (LMU), 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | | | - Jennifer Balacco
- Vertebrate Genome Lab, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | | | | | - Olivier Fedrigo
- Vertebrate Genome Lab, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Colleen T Downs
- Centre for Functional Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa
| | - Ara Monadjem
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Eswatini, Kwaluseni, Eswatini
- Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology & Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag 20, Hatfield, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Niels J Dingemanse
- Behavioural Ecology, Faculty of Biology, LMU Munich (LMU), 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Erich D Jarvis
- Vertebrate Genome Lab, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
| | - Alan Brelsford
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
| | - Bridgett M vonHoldt
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Alexander N G Kirschel
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, PO Box 20537, Nicosia, 1678, Cyprus.
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30
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Macedo-Lima M, Fernández-Vargas M, Remage-Healey L. Social reinforcement guides operant behaviour and auditory learning in a songbird. Anim Behav 2024; 210:127-137. [PMID: 38505105 PMCID: PMC10947183 DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.01.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/21/2024]
Abstract
Motivation to seek social interactions is inherent to all social species. For instance, even with risk of disease transmission in a recent pandemic, humans sought out frequent in-person social interactions. In other social animals, socialization can be prioritized even over water or food consumption. Zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, are highly gregarious songbirds widely used in behavioural and physiological research. Songbirds, like humans, are vocal learners during development, which rely on intense auditory learning. Aside from supporting song learning, auditory learning further supports individual identification, mate choice and outcome associations in songbirds. To study auditory learning in a laboratory setting, studies often employ operant paradigms with food restriction and reinforcement and require complete social isolation, which can result in stress and other unintended physiological consequences for social species. Thus, in this work, we designed an operant behavioural method leveraging the sociality of zebra finches for goal-directed behaviours. Our approach relies on visual social reinforcement, without depriving the animals of food or social contact. Using this task, we found that visual social reinforcement was a strong motivational drive for operant behaviour. Motivation was sensitive to familiarity towards the stimulus animal and higher when engaging with a familiar versus a novel individual. We further show that this tool can be used to assess auditory discrimination learning using either songs or synthetic pure tones as stimuli. As birds gained experience in the task, they developed a strategy to maximize reward acquisition in spite of receiving more punishment, i.e. liberal response bias. Our operant paradigm provides an alternative to tasks using food reinforcement and could be applied to a variety of highly social species, such as rodents and nonhuman primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matheus Macedo-Lima
- Matheus Macedo-Lima is now at the Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, U.S.A
| | - Marcela Fernández-Vargas
- Marcela Fernández-Vargas is now at the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience Program, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, U.S.A
| | - Luke Remage-Healey
- Corresponding author. (L. Remage-Healey)., @HealeyLab, Neuroscience and Behavior Program, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA, U.S.A.
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31
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Steinemer A, Simon A, Güntürkün O, Rook N. Parallel executive pallio-motor loops in the pigeon brain. J Comp Neurol 2024; 532:e25611. [PMID: 38625816 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 03/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/24/2024] [Indexed: 04/18/2024]
Abstract
A core component of the avian pallial cognitive network is the multimodal nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) that is considered to be analogous to the mammalian prefrontal cortex (PFC). The NCL plays a key role in a multitude of executive tasks such as working memory, decision-making during navigation, and extinction learning in complex learning environments. Like the PFC, the NCL is positioned at the transition from ascending sensory to descending motor systems. For the latter, it sends descending premotor projections to the intermediate arcopallium (AI) and the medial striatum (MSt). To gain detailed insight into the organization of these projections, we conducted several retrograde and anterograde tracing experiments. First, we tested whether NCL neurons projecting to AI (NCLarco neurons) and MSt (NCLMSt neurons) are constituted by a single neuronal population with bifurcating neurons, or whether they form two distinct populations. Here, we found two distinct projection patterns to both target areas that were associated with different morphologies. Second, we revealed a weak topographic projection toward the medial and lateral striatum and a strong topographic projection toward AI with clearly distinguishable sensory termination fields. Third, we investigated the relationship between the descending NCL pathways to the arcopallium with those from the hyperpallium apicale, which harbors a second major descending pathway of the avian pallium. We embed our findings within a system of parallel pallio-motor loops that carry information from separate sensory modalities to different subpallial systems. Our results also provide insights into the evolution of the avian motor system from which, possibly, the song system has emerged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alina Steinemer
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Annika Simon
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Noemi Rook
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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32
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Wirthlin ME, Schmid TA, Elie JE, Zhang X, Kowalczyk A, Redlich R, Shvareva VA, Rakuljic A, Ji MB, Bhat NS, Kaplow IM, Schäffer DE, Lawler AJ, Wang AZ, Phan BN, Annaldasula S, Brown AR, Lu T, Lim BK, Azim E, Clark NL, Meyer WK, Pond SLK, Chikina M, Yartsev MM, Pfenning AR. Vocal learning-associated convergent evolution in mammalian proteins and regulatory elements. Science 2024; 383:eabn3263. [PMID: 38422184 PMCID: PMC11313673 DOI: 10.1126/science.abn3263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Vocal production learning ("vocal learning") is a convergently evolved trait in vertebrates. To identify brain genomic elements associated with mammalian vocal learning, we integrated genomic, anatomical, and neurophysiological data from the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) with analyses of the genomes of 215 placental mammals. First, we identified a set of proteins evolving more slowly in vocal learners. Then, we discovered a vocal motor cortical region in the Egyptian fruit bat, an emergent vocal learner, and leveraged that knowledge to identify active cis-regulatory elements in the motor cortex of vocal learners. Machine learning methods applied to motor cortex open chromatin revealed 50 enhancers robustly associated with vocal learning whose activity tended to be lower in vocal learners. Our research implicates convergent losses of motor cortex regulatory elements in mammalian vocal learning evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan E. Wirthlin
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Present address: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University; Durham, NC 27705
| | - Tobias A. Schmid
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA 94708, USA
| | - Julie E. Elie
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA 94708, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA 94708, USA
| | - Xiaomeng Zhang
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Amanda Kowalczyk
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Present address: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University; Durham, NC 27705
| | - Ruby Redlich
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Varvara A. Shvareva
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA 94708, USA
| | - Ashley Rakuljic
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA 94708, USA
| | - Maria B. Ji
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA 94708, USA
| | - Ninad S. Bhat
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA 94708, USA
| | - Irene M. Kaplow
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Present address: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University; Durham, NC 27705
| | - Daniel E. Schäffer
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Alyssa J. Lawler
- Present address: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University; Durham, NC 27705
- Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Andrew Z. Wang
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - BaDoi N. Phan
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Present address: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University; Durham, NC 27705
| | - Siddharth Annaldasula
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Ashley R. Brown
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Present address: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University; Durham, NC 27705
| | - Tianyu Lu
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Byung Kook Lim
- Neurobiology section, Division of Biological Science, University of California, San Diego; La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Eiman Azim
- Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies; La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Nathan L. Clark
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Wynn K. Meyer
- Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University; Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA
| | | | - Maria Chikina
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Michael M. Yartsev
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA 94708, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA 94708, USA
| | - Andreas R. Pfenning
- Department of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
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33
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López-Murillo C, Hinestroza-Morales S, Henny P, Toledo J, Cardona-Gómez GP, Rivera-Gutiérrez H, Posada-Duque R. Differences in vocal brain areas and astrocytes between the house wren and the rufous-tailed hummingbird. Front Neuroanat 2024; 18:1339308. [PMID: 38601797 PMCID: PMC11004282 DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2024.1339308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024] Open
Abstract
The house wren shows complex song, and the rufous-tailed hummingbird has a simple song. The location of vocal brain areas supports the song's complexity; however, these still need to be studied. The astrocytic population in songbirds appears to be associated with change in vocal control nuclei; however, astrocytic distribution and morphology have not been described in these species. Consequently, we compared the distribution and volume of the vocal brain areas: HVC, RA, Area X, and LMAN, cell density, and the morphology of astrocytes in the house wren and the rufous-tailed hummingbird. Individuals of the two species were collected, and their brains were analyzed using serial Nissl- NeuN- and MAP2-stained tissue scanner imaging, followed by 3D reconstructions of the vocal areas; and GFAP and S100β astrocytes were analyzed in both species. We found that vocal areas were located close to the cerebral midline in the house wren and a more lateralized position in the rufous-tailed hummingbird. The LMAN occupied a larger volume in the rufous-tailed hummingbird, while the RA and HVC were larger in the house wren. While Area X showed higher cell density in the house wren than the rufous-tailed hummingbird, the LMAN showed a higher density in the rufous-tailed hummingbird. In the house wren, GFAP astrocytes in the same bregma where the vocal areas were located were observed at the laminar edge of the pallium (LEP) and in the vascular region, as well as in vocal motor relay regions in the pallidum and mesencephalon. In contrast, GFAP astrocytes were found in LEP, but not in the pallidum and mesencephalon in hummingbirds. Finally, when comparing GFAP astrocytes in the LEP region of both species, house wren astrocytes exhibited significantly more complex morphology than those of the rufous-tailed hummingbird. These findings suggest a difference in the location and cellular density of vocal circuits, as well as morphology of GFAP astrocytes between the house wren and the rufous-tailed hummingbird.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina López-Murillo
- Área de Neurofisiología Celular, Grupo de Neurociencias de Antioquia, Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
| | - Santiago Hinestroza-Morales
- Área de Neurofisiología Celular, Grupo de Neurociencias de Antioquia, Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
| | - Pablo Henny
- Laboratorio de Neuroanatomía, Departamento de Anatomía, and Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia, NeuroUC, Escuela de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Jorge Toledo
- Scientific Equipment Network REDECA, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Gloria Patricia Cardona-Gómez
- Área de Neurobiología Celular y Molecular, Grupo de Neurociencias de Antioquia, Facultad de Medicina, Sede de Investigaciones Universitarias, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
| | - Héctor Rivera-Gutiérrez
- Grupo de Investigación de Ecología y Evolución de Vertebrados, Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
| | - Rafael Posada-Duque
- Área de Neurofisiología Celular, Grupo de Neurociencias de Antioquia, Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
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34
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Boyd JL. Moral considerability of brain organoids from the perspective of computational architecture. OXFORD OPEN NEUROSCIENCE 2024; 3:kvae004. [PMID: 38595940 PMCID: PMC10995847 DOI: 10.1093/oons/kvae004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
Human brain organoids equipped with complex cytoarchitecture and closed-loop feedback from virtual environments could provide insights into neural mechanisms underlying cognition. Yet organoids with certain cognitive capacities might also merit moral consideration. A precautionary approach has been proposed to address these ethical concerns by focusing on the epistemological question of whether organoids possess neural structures for morally-relevant capacities that bear resemblance to those found in human brains. Critics challenge this similarity approach on philosophical, scientific, and practical grounds but do so without a suitable alternative. Here, I introduce an architectural approach that infers the potential for cognitive-like processing in brain organoids based on the pattern of information flow through the system. The kind of computational architecture acquired by an organoid then informs the kind of cognitive capacities that could, theoretically, be supported and empirically investigated. The implications of this approach for the moral considerability of brain organoids are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Lomax Boyd
- Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, 1809 Ashland Ave, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
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35
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Frank SY, Hunt JL, Bae AJ, Chirathivat N, Lotfi S, Raja SC, Gobes SMH. Hemispheric dominance in HVC is experience-dependent in juvenile male zebra finches. Sci Rep 2024; 14:5781. [PMID: 38461197 PMCID: PMC10924951 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55987-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2024] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 03/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Juvenile male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) must be exposed to an adult tutor during a sensitive period to develop normal adult song. The pre-motor nucleus HVC (acronym used as a proper name), plays a critical role in song learning and production (cf. Broca's area in humans). In the human brain, left-side hemispheric dominance in some language regions is positively correlated with proficiency in linguistic skills. However, it is unclear whether this pattern depends upon language learning, develops with normal maturation of the brain, or is the result of pre-existing functional asymmetries. In juvenile zebra finches, even though both left and right HVC contribute to song production, baseline molecular activity in HVC is left-dominant. To test if HVC exhibits hemispheric dominance prior to song learning, we raised juvenile males in isolation from adult song and measured neuronal activity in the left and right HVC upon first exposure to an auditory stimulus. Activity in the HVC was measured using the immediate early gene (IEG) zenk (acronym for zif-268, egr-1, NGFI-a, and krox-24) as a marker for neuronal activity. We found that neuronal activity in the HVC of juvenile male zebra finches is not lateralized when raised in the absence of adult song, while normally-reared juvenile birds are left-dominant. These findings show that there is no pre-existing asymmetry in the HVC prior to song exposure, suggesting that lateralization of the song system depends on learning through early exposure to adult song and subsequent song-imitation practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophia Y Frank
- Neuroscience Department, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 02481, USA
| | - Jesse L Hunt
- Neuroscience Department, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 02481, USA
| | - Andrea J Bae
- Neuroscience Department, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 02481, USA
| | - Napim Chirathivat
- Neuroscience Department, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 02481, USA
| | - Sima Lotfi
- Neuroscience Department, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 02481, USA
| | - Sahitya C Raja
- Neuroscience Department, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 02481, USA
| | - Sharon M H Gobes
- Neuroscience Department, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 02481, USA.
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36
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Haiduk F, Zatorre RJ, Benjamin L, Morillon B, Albouy P. Spectrotemporal cues and attention jointly modulate fMRI network topology for sentence and melody perception. Sci Rep 2024; 14:5501. [PMID: 38448636 PMCID: PMC10917817 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-56139-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Speech and music are two fundamental modes of human communication. Lateralisation of key processes underlying their perception has been related both to the distinct sensitivity to low-level spectrotemporal acoustic features and to top-down attention. However, the interplay between bottom-up and top-down processes needs to be clarified. In the present study, we investigated the contribution of acoustics and attention to melodies or sentences to lateralisation in fMRI functional network topology. We used sung speech stimuli selectively filtered in temporal or spectral modulation domains with crossed and balanced verbal and melodic content. Perception of speech decreased with degradation of temporal information, whereas perception of melodies decreased with spectral degradation. Applying graph theoretical metrics on fMRI connectivity matrices, we found that local clustering, reflecting functional specialisation, linearly increased when spectral or temporal cues crucial for the task goal were incrementally degraded. These effects occurred in a bilateral fronto-temporo-parietal network for processing temporally degraded sentences and in right auditory regions for processing spectrally degraded melodies. In contrast, global topology remained stable across conditions. These findings suggest that lateralisation for speech and music partially depends on an interplay of acoustic cues and task goals under increased attentional demands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Haiduk
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
| | - Robert J Zatorre
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS) - CRBLM, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Lucas Benjamin
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CNRS ERL 9003, INSERM U992, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, 91191, Gif/Yvette, France
| | - Benjamin Morillon
- Aix Marseille University, Inserm, INS, Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Marseille, France
| | - Philippe Albouy
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS) - CRBLM, Montreal, QC, Canada
- CERVO Brain Research Centre, School of Psychology, Laval University, Quebec, QC, Canada
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37
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Beetz MJ. A perspective on neuroethology: what the past teaches us about the future of neuroethology. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2024; 210:325-346. [PMID: 38411712 PMCID: PMC10995053 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-024-01695-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024]
Abstract
For 100 years, the Journal of Comparative Physiology-A has significantly supported research in the field of neuroethology. The celebration of the journal's centennial is a great time point to appreciate the recent progress in neuroethology and to discuss possible avenues of the field. Animal behavior is the main source of inspiration for neuroethologists. This is illustrated by the huge diversity of investigated behaviors and species. To explain behavior at a mechanistic level, neuroethologists combine neuroscientific approaches with sophisticated behavioral analysis. The rapid technological progress in neuroscience makes neuroethology a highly dynamic and exciting field of research. To summarize the recent scientific progress in neuroethology, I went through all abstracts of the last six International Congresses for Neuroethology (ICNs 2010-2022) and categorized them based on the sensory modalities, experimental model species, and research topics. This highlights the diversity of neuroethology and gives us a perspective on the field's scientific future. At the end, I highlight three research topics that may, among others, influence the future of neuroethology. I hope that sharing my roots may inspire other scientists to follow neuroethological approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Jerome Beetz
- Zoology II, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
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38
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Bayazitov IT, Teubner BJW, Feng F, Wu Z, Li Y, Blundon JA, Zakharenko SS. Sound-evoked adenosine release in cooperation with neuromodulatory circuits permits auditory cortical plasticity and perceptual learning. Cell Rep 2024; 43:113758. [PMID: 38358887 PMCID: PMC10939737 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.113758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Meaningful auditory memories are formed in adults when acoustic information is delivered to the auditory cortex during heightened states of attention, vigilance, or alertness, as mediated by neuromodulatory circuits. Here, we identify that, in awake mice, acoustic stimulation triggers auditory thalamocortical projections to release adenosine, which prevents cortical plasticity (i.e., selective expansion of neural representation of behaviorally relevant acoustic stimuli) and perceptual learning (i.e., experience-dependent improvement in frequency discrimination ability). This sound-evoked adenosine release (SEAR) becomes reduced within seconds when acoustic stimuli are tightly paired with the activation of neuromodulatory (cholinergic or dopaminergic) circuits or periods of attentive wakefulness. If thalamic adenosine production is enhanced, then SEAR elevates further, the neuromodulatory circuits are unable to sufficiently reduce SEAR, and associative cortical plasticity and perceptual learning are blocked. This suggests that transient low-adenosine periods triggered by neuromodulatory circuits permit associative cortical plasticity and auditory perceptual learning in adults to occur.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ildar T Bayazitov
- Division of Neural Circuits and Behavior, Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Brett J W Teubner
- Division of Neural Circuits and Behavior, Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Feng Feng
- Division of Neural Circuits and Behavior, Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Zhaofa Wu
- School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Yulong Li
- School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Jay A Blundon
- Division of Neural Circuits and Behavior, Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
| | - Stanislav S Zakharenko
- Division of Neural Circuits and Behavior, Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.
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39
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Kleindorfer S, Brouwer L, Hauber ME, Teunissen N, Peters A, Louter M, Webster MS, Katsis AC, Sulloway FJ, Common LK, Austin VI, Colombelli-Négrel D. Nestling Begging Calls Resemble Maternal Vocal Signatures When Mothers Call Slowly to Embryos. Am Nat 2024; 203:267-283. [PMID: 38306283 DOI: 10.1086/728105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2024]
Abstract
AbstractVocal production learning (the capacity to learn to produce vocalizations) is a multidimensional trait that involves different learning mechanisms during different temporal and socioecological contexts. Key outstanding questions are whether vocal production learning begins during the embryonic stage and whether mothers play an active role in this through pupil-directed vocalization behaviors. We examined variation in vocal copy similarity (an indicator of learning) in eight species from the songbird family Maluridae, using comparative and experimental approaches. We found that (1) incubating females from all species vocalized inside the nest and produced call types including a signature "B element" that was structurally similar to their nestlings' begging call; (2) in a prenatal playback experiment using superb fairy wrens (Malurus cyaneus), embryos showed a stronger heart rate response to playbacks of the B element than to another call element (A); and (3) mothers that produced slower calls had offspring with greater similarity between their begging call and the mother's B element vocalization. We conclude that malurid mothers display behaviors concordant with pupil-directed vocalizations and may actively influence their offspring's early life through sound learning shaped by maternal call tempo.
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40
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Adeck A, Millwater M, Bragg C, Zhang R, SheikhBahaei S. Morphological deficits of glial cells in a transgenic mouse model for developmental stuttering. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.04.574051. [PMID: 38260402 PMCID: PMC10802298 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.04.574051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Vocal production involves intricate neural coordination across various brain regions. Stuttering, a common speech disorder, has genetic underpinnings, including mutations in lysosomal-targeting pathway genes. Using a Gnptab-mutant mouse model linked to stuttering, we examined neuron and glial cell morphology in vocal production circuits. Our findings revealed altered astrocyte and microglia processes in these circuits in Gnptab-mutant mice, while control regions remained unaffected. Our results shed light on the potential role of glial cells in stuttering pathophysiology and highlight their relevance in modulating vocal production behaviors.
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41
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Zhao Z, Teoh HK, Carpenter J, Nemon F, Kardon B, Cohen I, Goldberg JH. Anterior forebrain pathway in parrots is necessary for producing learned vocalizations with individual signatures. Curr Biol 2023; 33:5415-5426.e4. [PMID: 38070505 PMCID: PMC10799565 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2023] [Revised: 08/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Parrots have enormous vocal imitation capacities and produce individually unique vocal signatures. Like songbirds, parrots have a nucleated neural song system with distinct anterior (AFP) and posterior forebrain pathways (PFP). To test if song systems of parrots and songbirds, which diverged over 50 million years ago, have a similar functional organization, we first established a neuroscience-compatible call-and-response behavioral paradigm to elicit learned contact calls in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). Using variational autoencoder-based machine learning methods, we show that contact calls within affiliated groups converge but that individuals maintain unique acoustic features, or vocal signatures, even after call convergence. Next, we transiently inactivated the outputs of AFP to test if learned vocalizations can be produced by the PFP alone. As in songbirds, AFP inactivation had an immediate effect on vocalizations, consistent with a premotor role. But in contrast to songbirds, where the isolated PFP is sufficient to produce stereotyped and acoustically normal vocalizations, isolation of the budgerigar PFP caused a degradation of call acoustic structure, stereotypy, and individual uniqueness. Thus, the contribution of AFP and the capacity of isolated PFP to produce learned vocalizations have diverged substantially between songbirds and parrots, likely driven by their distinct behavioral ecology and neural connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhilei Zhao
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Han Kheng Teoh
- Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Julie Carpenter
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Frieda Nemon
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Brian Kardon
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Itai Cohen
- Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Jesse H Goldberg
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
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42
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Elie JE, Muroy SE, Genzel D, Na T, Beyer LA, Swiderski DL, Raphael Y, Yartsev MM. Role of auditory feedback for vocal production learning in the Egyptian fruit-bat. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.11.21.568126. [PMID: 38045408 PMCID: PMC10690156 DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.21.568126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
Some species have evolved the ability to use the sense of hearing to modify existing vocalizations, or even create new ones. This ability corresponds to various forms of vocal production learning that are all possessed by humans, and independently displayed by distantly related vertebrates. Among mammals, a few species, including the Egyptian fruit-bat, would possess such vocal production learning abilities. Yet the necessity of an intact auditory system for the development of the Egyptian fruit-bat typical vocal repertoire has not been tested. Furthermore, a systematic causal examination of learned and innate aspects of the entire repertoire has never been performed in any vocal learner. Here we addressed these gaps by eliminating pups' sense of hearing at birth and assessing its effects on vocal production in adulthood. The deafening treatment enabled us to both causally test these bats vocal learning ability and discern learned from innate aspects of their vocalizations. Leveraging wireless individual audio recordings from freely interacting adults, we show that a subset of the Egyptian fruit-bat vocal repertoire necessitates auditory feedback. Intriguingly, these affected vocalizations belong to different acoustic groups in the vocal repertoire of males and females. These findings open the possibilities for targeted studies of the mammalian neural circuits that enable sexually dimorphic forms of vocal learning.
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43
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Veerakumar A, Head JP, Krasnow MA. A brainstem circuit for phonation and volume control in mice. Nat Neurosci 2023; 26:2122-2130. [PMID: 37996531 PMCID: PMC10689238 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01478-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023]
Abstract
Mammalian vocalizations are critical for communication and are produced through the process of phonation, in which expiratory muscles force air through the tensed vocal folds of the larynx, which vibrate to produce sound. Despite the importance of phonation, the motor circuits in the brain that control it remain poorly understood. In this study, we identified a subpopulation of ~160 neuropeptide precursor Nts (neurotensin)-expressing neurons in the mouse brainstem nucleus retroambiguus (RAm) that are robustly activated during both neonatal isolation cries and adult social vocalizations. The activity of these neurons is necessary and sufficient for vocalization and bidirectionally controls sound volume. RAm Nts neurons project to all brainstem and spinal cord motor centers involved in phonation and activate laryngeal and expiratory muscles essential for phonation and volume control. Thus, RAm Nts neurons form the core of a brain circuit for making sound and controlling its volume, which are two foundations of vocal communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Avin Veerakumar
- Department of Biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Joshua P Head
- Department of Biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Mark A Krasnow
- Department of Biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
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44
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Nevue AA, Zemel BM, Friedrich SR, von Gersdorff H, Mello CV. Cell type specializations of the vocal-motor cortex in songbirds. Cell Rep 2023; 42:113344. [PMID: 37910500 PMCID: PMC10752865 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2023] [Revised: 08/30/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Identifying molecular specializations in cortical circuitry supporting complex behaviors, like learned vocalizations, requires understanding of the neuroanatomical context from which these circuits arise. In songbirds, the robust arcopallial nucleus (RA) provides descending cortical projections for fine vocal-motor control. Using single-nuclei transcriptomics and spatial gene expression mapping in zebra finches, we have defined cell types and molecular specializations that distinguish RA from adjacent regions involved in non-vocal motor and sensory processing. We describe an RA-specific projection neuron, differential inhibitory subtypes, and glia specializations and have probed predicted GABAergic interneuron subtypes electrophysiologically within RA. Several cell-specific markers arise developmentally in a sex-dependent manner. Our interactive apps integrate cellular data with developmental and spatial distribution data from the gene expression brain atlas ZEBrA. Users can explore molecular specializations of vocal-motor neurons and support cells that likely reflect adaptations key to the physiology and evolution of vocal control circuits and refined motor skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander A Nevue
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Benjamin M Zemel
- Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Samantha R Friedrich
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | | | - Claudio V Mello
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
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45
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Santolin C, Crespo-Bojorque P, Sebastian-Galles N, Toro JM. Sensitivity to the sonority sequencing principle in rats (Rattus norvegicus). Sci Rep 2023; 13:17036. [PMID: 37813950 PMCID: PMC10562444 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-44081-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Albeit diverse, human languages exhibit universal structures. A salient example is the syllable, an important structure of language acquisition. The structure of syllables is determined by the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP), a linguistic constraint according to which phoneme intensity must increase at onset, reaching a peak at nucleus (vowel), and decline at offset. Such structure generates an intensity pattern with an arch shape. In humans, sensitivity to restrictions imposed by the SSP on syllables appears at birth, raising questions about its emergence. We investigated the biological mechanisms at the foundations of the SSP, testing a nonhuman, non-vocal-learner species with the same language materials used with humans. Rats discriminated well-structured syllables (e.g., pras) from ill-structured ones (e.g., lbug) after being familiarized with syllabic structures conforming to the SSP. In contrast, we did not observe evidence that rats familiarized with syllables that violate such constraint discriminated at test. This research provides the first evidence of sensitivity to the SSP in a nonhuman species, which likely stems from evolutionary-ancient cross-species biological predispositions for natural acoustic patterns. Humans' early sensitivity to the SSP possibly emerges from general auditory processing that favors sounds depicting an arch-shaped envelope, common amongst animal vocalizations. Ancient sensory mechanisms, responsible for processing vocalizations in the wild, would constitute an entry-gate for human language acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Santolin
- Center for Brain and Cognition, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | | | | | - Juan Manuel Toro
- Center for Brain and Cognition, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
- Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, Barcelona, Spain
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46
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Friederici AD. Evolutionary neuroanatomical expansion of Broca's region serving a human-specific function. Trends Neurosci 2023; 46:786-796. [PMID: 37596132 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2023.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/20/2023]
Abstract
The question concerning the evolution of language is directly linked to the debate on whether language and action are dependent or not and to what extent Broca's region serves as a common neural basis. The debate resulted in two opposing views, one arguing for and one against the dependence of language and action mainly based on neuroscientific data. This article presents an evolutionary neuroanatomical framework which may offer a solution to this dispute. It is proposed that in humans, Broca's region houses language and action independently in spatially separated subregions. This became possible due to an evolutionary expansion of Broca's region in the human brain, which was not paralleled by a similar expansion in the chimpanzee's brain, providing additional space needed for the neural representation of language in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela D Friederici
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Stephanstraße 1A, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
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47
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Audet JN, Couture M, Jarvis ED. Songbird species that display more-complex vocal learning are better problem-solvers and have larger brains. Science 2023; 381:1170-1175. [PMID: 37708288 DOI: 10.1126/science.adh3428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
Complex vocal learning, a critical component of human spoken language, has been assumed to be associated with more-advanced cognitive abilities. Tests of this hypothesis between individuals within a species have been inconclusive and have not been done across species. In this work, we measured an array of cognitive skills-namely, problem-solving, associative and reversal learning, and self-control-across 214 individuals of 23 bird species, including 19 wild-caught songbird species, two domesticated songbird species, and two wild-caught vocal nonlearning species. We found that the greater the vocal learning abilities of a species, the better their problem-solving skills and the relatively larger their brains. These conclusions held when controlling for noncognitive variables and phylogeny. Our results support a hypothesis of shared genetic and cognitive mechanisms between vocal learning, problem-solving, and bigger brains in songbirds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Nicolas Audet
- The Rockefeller University Field Research Center, Millbrook, NY, USA
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Mélanie Couture
- The Rockefeller University Field Research Center, Millbrook, NY, USA
- The Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Erich D Jarvis
- The Rockefeller University Field Research Center, Millbrook, NY, USA
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
- The Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
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48
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Anderson KL, Colón L, Doolittle V, Rosario Martinez R, Uraga J, Whitney O. Context-dependent activation of a social behavior brain network during learned vocal production. Brain Struct Funct 2023; 228:1785-1797. [PMID: 37615758 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-023-02693-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023]
Abstract
Neural activation in brain regions for vocal control is social context dependent. This context-dependent brain activation reflects social context-appropriate vocal behavior but has unresolved mechanisms. Studies of non-vocal social behaviors in multiple organisms suggest a functional role for several evolutionarily conserved and highly interconnected brain regions. Here, we use neural activity-dependent gene expression to evaluate the functional connectivity of this social behavior network within zebra finches in non-social and social singing contexts. We found that activity in one social behavior network region, the medial preoptic area (POM), was strongly associated with the amount of non-social undirected singing in zebra finches. In addition, in all regions of the social behavior network and the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), a higher percentage of EGR1 expression was observed during a social female-directed singing context compared to a non-social undirected singing context. Furthermore, we observed distinct patterns of significantly correlated activity between regions of the social behavior network during non-social undirected and social female-directed singing. Our results suggest that non-social vs. social contexts differentially activate this social behavior network and PVN. Moreover, neuronal activity within this social behavior network, PVN, and POM may alter context-appropriate vocal production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine L Anderson
- Biology Department, City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
- Graduate Center, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Program, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Lionel Colón
- Biology Department, City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Violet Doolittle
- Biology Department, City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Joseph Uraga
- Biology Department, City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Osceola Whitney
- Biology Department, City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
- Graduate Center, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Program, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
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49
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Liang B, Li Y, Zhao W, Du Y. Bilateral human laryngeal motor cortex in perceptual decision of lexical tone and voicing of consonant. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4710. [PMID: 37543659 PMCID: PMC10404239 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40445-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Speech perception is believed to recruit the left motor cortex. However, the exact role of the laryngeal subregion and its right counterpart in speech perception, as well as their temporal patterns of involvement remain unclear. To address these questions, we conducted a hypothesis-driven study, utilizing transcranial magnetic stimulation on the left or right dorsal laryngeal motor cortex (dLMC) when participants performed perceptual decision on Mandarin lexical tone or consonant (voicing contrast) presented with or without noise. We used psychometric function and hierarchical drift-diffusion model to disentangle perceptual sensitivity and dynamic decision-making parameters. Results showed that bilateral dLMCs were engaged with effector specificity, and this engagement was left-lateralized with right upregulation in noise. Furthermore, the dLMC contributed to various decision stages depending on the hemisphere and task difficulty. These findings substantially advance our understanding of the hemispherical lateralization and temporal dynamics of bilateral dLMC in sensorimotor integration during speech perceptual decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baishen Liang
- Institute of Psychology, CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yanchang Li
- Institute of Psychology, CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Wanying Zhao
- Institute of Psychology, CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Yi Du
- Institute of Psychology, CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
- CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Shanghai, 200031, China.
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, 102206, China.
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50
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Gisladottir RS, Helgason A, Halldorsson BV, Helgason H, Borsky M, Chien YR, Gudnason J, Gudjonsson SA, Moisik S, Dediu D, Thorleifsson G, Tragante V, Bustamante M, Jonsdottir GA, Stefansdottir L, Rutsdottir G, Magnusson SH, Hardarson M, Ferkingstad E, Halldorsson GH, Rognvaldsson S, Skuladottir A, Ivarsdottir EV, Norddahl G, Thorgeirsson G, Jonsdottir I, Ulfarsson MO, Holm H, Stefansson H, Thorsteinsdottir U, Gudbjartsson DF, Sulem P, Stefansson K. Sequence variants affecting voice pitch in humans. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eabq2969. [PMID: 37294764 PMCID: PMC10256171 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq2969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The genetic basis of the human vocal system is largely unknown, as are the sequence variants that give rise to individual differences in voice and speech. Here, we couple data on diversity in the sequence of the genome with voice and vowel acoustics in speech recordings from 12,901 Icelanders. We show how voice pitch and vowel acoustics vary across the life span and correlate with anthropometric, physiological, and cognitive traits. We found that voice pitch and vowel acoustics have a heritable component and discovered correlated common variants in ABCC9 that associate with voice pitch. The ABCC9 variants also associate with adrenal gene expression and cardiovascular traits. By showing that voice and vowel acoustics are influenced by genetics, we have taken important steps toward understanding the genetics and evolution of the human vocal system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa S. Gisladottir
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- Department of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies, University of Iceland, Saemundargata 2, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Agnar Helgason
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- Department of Anthropology, University of Iceland, Saemundargata 10, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Bjarni V. Halldorsson
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- Department of Engineering, Reykjavik University, Menntavegur 1, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Hannes Helgason
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Michal Borsky
- Department of Engineering, Reykjavik University, Menntavegur 1, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Yu-Ren Chien
- Department of Engineering, Reykjavik University, Menntavegur 1, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Jon Gudnason
- Department of Engineering, Reykjavik University, Menntavegur 1, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | | | - Scott Moisik
- Division of Linguistics and Multilingual Studies, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore
| | - Dan Dediu
- Department of Catalan Philology and General Linguistics, University of Barcelona, Gran Via 585, Barcelona 08007, Spain
- University of Barcelona Institute for Complex Systems (UBICS), Martí Franquès 1, Barcelona 08028, Spain
- Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Passeig Lluís Companys 23, Barcelona 08010, Spain
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Egil Ferkingstad
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Gisli H. Halldorsson
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 5, 107 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | | | | | | | | | - Gudmundur Thorgeirsson
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Vatnsmyrarvegur 16, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Ingileif Jonsdottir
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Vatnsmyrarvegur 16, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Magnus O. Ulfarsson
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 5, 107 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Hilma Holm
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | | | - Unnur Thorsteinsdottir
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Vatnsmyrarvegur 16, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Daniel F. Gudbjartsson
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 5, 107 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Patrick Sulem
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Kari Stefansson
- deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Vatnsmyrarvegur 16, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
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