Sex differences in discrimination of vocal communication signals in a songbird

2001 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 805-817 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Vicario ◽  
Nasir H. Naqvi ◽  
Jonathan N. Raksin
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Communication Signals

scholarly journals Spatial and Temporal Organization of Composite Receptive Fields in the Songbird Auditory Forebrain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasim Winchester Vahidi
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Temporal Organization ◽  
Quadratic Model ◽  
Bird Songs ◽  
Communication Signals ◽  
Complete Representation ◽  
Auditory Forebrain ◽  
Neuron Populations ◽  
Classical Models

The mechanisms underlying how single auditory neurons and neuron populations encode natural and acoustically complex vocal signals, such as human speech or bird songs, are not well understood. Classical models focus on individual neurons, whose spike rates vary systematically as a function of change in a small number of simple acoustic dimensions. However, neurons in the caudal medial nidopallium (NCM), an auditory forebrain region in songbirds that is analogous to the secondary auditory cortex in mammals, have composite receptive fields (CRFs) that comprise multiple acoustic features tied to both increases and decreases in firing rates. Here, we investigated the anatomical organization and temporal activation patterns of auditory CRFs in European starlings exposed to natural vocal communication signals (songs). We recorded extracellular electrophysiological responses to various bird songs at auditory NCM sites, including both single and multiple neurons, and we then applied a quadratic model to extract large sets of CRF features that were tied to excitatory and suppressive responses at each measurement site. We found that the superset of CRF features yielded spatially and temporally distributed, generalizable representations of a conspecific song. Individual sites responded to acoustically diverse features, as there was no discernable organization of features across anatomically ordered sites. The CRF features at each site yielded broad, temporally distributed responses that spanned the entire duration of many starling songs, which can last for 50 s or more. Based on these results, we estimated that a nearly complete representation of any conspecific song, regardless of length, can be obtained by evaluating populations as small as 100 neurons. We conclude that natural acoustic communication signals drive a distributed yet highly redundant representation across the songbird auditory forebrain, in which adjacent neurons contribute to the encoding of multiple diverse and time-varying spectro-temporal features.

From Perception to Action: The Role of Auditory Input in Shaping Vocal Communication and Social Behaviors in Birds

2019 ◽  
Vol 94 (Suppl. 1-4) ◽  
pp. 51-60
Author(s):  
Julie E. Elie ◽  
Susanne Hoffmann ◽  
Jeffery L. Dunning ◽  
Melissa J. Coleman ◽  
Eric S. Fortune ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Auditory Input ◽  
Research Focus ◽  
Vocal Production ◽  
Active Participant ◽  
Communication Signals

Acoustic communication signals are typically generated to influence the behavior of conspecific receivers. In songbirds, for instance, such cues are routinely used by males to influence the behavior of females and rival males. There is remarkable diversity in vocalizations across songbird species, and the mechanisms of vocal production have been studied extensively, yet there has been comparatively little emphasis on how the receiver perceives those signals and uses that information to direct subsequent actions. Here, we emphasize the receiver as an active participant in the communication process. The roles of sender and receiver can alternate between individuals, resulting in an emergent feedback loop that governs the behavior of both. We describe three lines of research that are beginning to reveal the neural mechanisms that underlie the reciprocal exchange of information in communication. These lines of research focus on the perception of the repertoire of songbird vocalizations, evaluation of vocalizations in mate choice, and the coordination of duet singing.

scholarly journals Forebrain circuits underlying the social modulation of vocal communication signals

2015 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura E. Matheson ◽  
Herie Sun ◽  
Jon T. Sakata
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Communication Signals ◽  
Social Modulation ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals Toward a Computational Neuroethology of Vocal Communication: From Bioacoustics to Neurophysiology, Emerging Tools and Future Directions

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Sainburg ◽  
Timothy Q. Gentner
Keyword(s):  
Signal Processing ◽  
Computational Methods ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Communication Behavior ◽  
Model Species ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Communication Signals ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
Computational Neuroethology

Recently developed methods in computational neuroethology have enabled increasingly detailed and comprehensive quantification of animal movements and behavioral kinematics. Vocal communication behavior is well poised for application of similar large-scale quantification methods in the service of physiological and ethological studies. This review describes emerging techniques that can be applied to acoustic and vocal communication signals with the goal of enabling study beyond a small number of model species. We review a range of modern computational methods for bioacoustics, signal processing, and brain-behavior mapping. Along with a discussion of recent advances and techniques, we include challenges and broader goals in establishing a framework for the computational neuroethology of vocal communication.

scholarly journals HDAC3 Inhibitor RGFP966 Modulates Neuronal Memory for Vocal Communication Signals in a Songbird Model

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mimi L. Phan ◽  
Mark M. Gergues ◽  
Shafali Mahidadia ◽  
Jorge Jimenez-Castillo ◽  
David S. Vicario ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Communication Signals

Catecholaminergic contributions to vocal communication signals

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (9) ◽  
pp. 1180-1194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura E. Matheson ◽  
Jon T. Sakata
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Communication Signals

scholarly journals Latent space visualization, characterization, and generation of diverse vocal communication signals

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Sainburg ◽  
Marvin Thielk ◽  
Timothy Q Gentner
Keyword(s):  
Latent Variables ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Animal Communication ◽  
Temporal Structure ◽  
Systematic Sampling ◽  
Acoustic Feature ◽  
Communication Signals ◽  
Animal Vocalizations ◽  
Complex Features ◽  
Low Dimensional

ABSTRACTAnimals produce vocalizations that range in complexity from a single repeated call to hundreds of unique vocal elements patterned in sequences unfolding over hours. Characterizing complex vocalizations can require considerable effort and a deep intuition about each species’ vocal behavior. Even with a great deal of experience, human characterizations of animal communication can be affected by human perceptual biases. We present here a set of computational methods that center around projecting animal vocalizations into low dimensional latent representational spaces that are directly learned from data. We apply these methods to diverse datasets from over 20 species, including humans, bats, songbirds, mice, cetaceans, and nonhuman primates, enabling high-powered comparative analyses of unbiased acoustic features in the communicative repertoires across species. Latent projections uncover complex features of data in visually intuitive and quantifiable ways. We introduce methods for analyzing vocalizations as both discrete sequences and as continuous latent variables. Each method can be used to disentangle complex spectro-temporal structure and observe long-timescale organization in communication. Finally, we show how systematic sampling from latent representational spaces of vocalizations enables comprehensive investigations of perceptual and neural representations of complex and ecologically relevant acoustic feature spaces.

Physiological and anatomical development of glycinergic inhibition in the mouse superior paraolivary nucleus following hearing onset

2020 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 471-483
Author(s):  
Ezhilarasan Rajaram ◽  
Sara Pagella ◽  
Benedikt Grothe ◽  
Conny Kopp-Scheinpflug
Keyword(s):  
Sound Localization ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Communication Signals ◽  
Inhibitory Circuit ◽  
Superior Paraolivary Nucleus ◽  
Evoked Activity ◽  
Glycinergic Inhibition

Neuronal activity regulates development and maturation of neural circuits. This activity can include spontaneous burst firing or firing elicited by sensory input during early development. For example, auditory brainstem circuits involved in sound localization require acoustically evoked activity to form properly. Here we show, that an inhibitory circuit, involved in processing sound offsets, gaps, and rhythmically modulated vocal communication signals, matures before the onset of acoustically evoked activity.

scholarly journals Inhibitory Network Interactions Shape the Auditory Processing of Natural Communication Signals in the Songbird Auditory Forebrain

2008 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 441-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Pinaud ◽  
Thomas A. Terleph ◽  
Liisa A. Tremere ◽  
Mimi L. Phan ◽  
André A. Dagostin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Frequency Tuning ◽  
Response Component ◽  
Communication Signals ◽  
Central Processing ◽  
Communication Signal ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings ◽  
Caudomedial Nidopallium ◽  
Inhibitory Networks

The role of GABA in the central processing of complex auditory signals is not fully understood. We have studied the involvement of GABAA-mediated inhibition in the processing of birdsong, a learned vocal communication signal requiring intact hearing for its development and maintenance. We focused on caudomedial nidopallium (NCM), an area analogous to parts of the mammalian auditory cortex with selective responses to birdsong. We present evidence that GABAA-mediated inhibition plays a pronounced role in NCM's auditory processing of birdsong. Using immunocytochemistry, we show that approximately half of NCM's neurons are GABAergic. Whole cell patch-clamp recordings in a slice preparation demonstrate that, at rest, spontaneously active GABAergic synapses inhibit excitatory inputs onto NCM neurons via GABAA receptors. Multi-electrode electrophysiological recordings in awake birds show that local blockade of GABAA-mediated inhibition in NCM markedly affects the temporal pattern of song-evoked responses in NCM without modifications in frequency tuning. Surprisingly, this blockade increases the phasic and largely suppresses the tonic response component, reflecting dynamic relationships of inhibitory networks that could include disinhibition. Thus processing of learned natural communication sounds in songbirds, and possibly other vocal learners, may depend on complex interactions of inhibitory networks.

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