scholarly journals Limiting parental interaction during vocal development affects acoustic call structure in marmoset monkeys

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. eaar4012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasemin B. Gultekin ◽  
Steffen R. Hage
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Development ◽  
Call Structure ◽  
Parental Interaction ◽  
Marmoset Monkeys

scholarly journals Vocal and locomotor coordination develops in association with the autonomic nervous system

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morgan L Gustison ◽  
Jeremy I Borjon ◽  
Daniel Y Takahashi ◽  
Asif A Ghazanfar
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Motor Control ◽  
Autonomic Nervous System ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Arousal Level ◽  
Vocal Development ◽  
Autonomic Nervous ◽  
Locomotor Behaviors ◽  
Marmoset Monkeys

In adult animals, movement and vocalizations are coordinated, sometimes facilitating, and at other times inhibiting, each other. What is missing is how these different domains of motor control become coordinated over the course of development. We investigated how postural-locomotor behaviors may influence vocal development, and the role played by physiological arousal during their interactions. Using infant marmoset monkeys, we densely sampled vocal, postural and locomotor behaviors and estimated arousal fluctuations from electrocardiographic measures of heart rate. We found that vocalizations matured sooner than postural and locomotor skills, and that vocal-locomotor coordination improved with age and during elevated arousal levels. These results suggest that postural-locomotor maturity is not required for vocal development to occur, and that infants gradually improve coordination between vocalizations and body movement through a process that may be facilitated by arousal level changes.

scholarly journals Compensatory mechanisms affect sensorimotor integration during ongoing vocal-motor acts in marmoset monkeys

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Pomberger ◽  
Julia Löschner ◽  
Steffen R. Hage
Keyword(s):  
Ambient Noise ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Motor Pattern ◽  
Heavy Rain ◽  
Compensatory Mechanisms ◽  
Lombard Effect ◽  
Call Structure ◽  
Noise Perturbation ◽  
Pattern Production ◽  
Marmoset Monkeys

AbstractIn vertebrates, any transmission of vocal signals faces the challenge of acoustic interferences such as heavy rain, wind, animal, or urban sounds. Consequently, several mechanisms and strategies have evolved to optimize the signal-to-noise ratio. Examples to increase detectability are the Lombard effect, an involuntary rise in call amplitude in response to masking ambient noise, which is often associated with several other vocal changes such as call frequency and duration, as well as the animals’ capability of limiting calling to periods where noise perturbation is absent. Previous studies revealed rapid vocal flexibility and various audio-vocal integration mechanisms in marmoset monkeys. Using acoustic perturbation triggered by vocal behavior, we investigated whether marmoset monkeys are capable of exhibiting changes in call structure when perturbing noise starts after call onset or whether such effects only occur if noise perturbation starts prior to call onset. We show that marmoset monkeys are capable of rapidly modulating call amplitude and frequency in response to such perturbing noise bursts. Vocalizations swiftly increased call frequency after noise onset indicating a rapid effect of perturbing noise on vocal motor pattern production. Call amplitudes were also affected. Interestingly, however, the marmosets did not exhibit the Lombard effect as previously reported but decreased their call intensity in response to perturbing noise. Our findings indicate that marmosets possess a general avoidance strategy to call in the presences of ambient noise and suggest that these animals are capable of counteracting a previously thought involuntary audio-vocal mechanism, the Lombard effect, presumably via cognitive control processes.

scholarly journals The association between parental interaction style and children’s joint engagement in families with toddlers with autism

Autism ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 511-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Y Patterson ◽  
Lauren Elder ◽  
Amanda Gulsrud ◽  
Connie Kasari
Keyword(s):  
Interaction Style ◽  
Joint Engagement ◽  
Parental Interaction

scholarly journals Syringeal vocal folds do not have a voice in zebra finch vocal development

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyssa Maxwell ◽  
Iris Adam ◽  
Pernille S. Larsen ◽  
Peter G. Sørensen ◽  
Coen P. H. Elemans
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Vocal Folds ◽  
Pressure Control ◽  
The Body ◽  
Vocal Development ◽  
Postnatal Maturation ◽  
Song System ◽  
Property Changes

AbstractVocal behavior can be dramatically changed by both neural circuit development and postnatal maturation of the body. During song learning in songbirds, both the song system and syringeal muscles are functionally changing, but it is unknown if maturation of sound generators within the syrinx contributes to vocal development. Here we densely sample the respiratory pressure control space of the zebra finch syrinx in vitro. We show that the syrinx produces sound very efficiently and that key acoustic parameters, minimal fundamental frequency, entropy and source level, do not change over development in both sexes. Thus, our data suggest that the observed acoustic changes in vocal development must be attributed to changes in the motor control pathway, from song system circuitry to muscle force, and not by material property changes in the avian analog of the vocal folds. We propose that in songbirds, muscle use and training driven by the sexually dimorphic song system are the crucial drivers that lead to sexual dimorphism of the syringeal skeleton and musculature. The size and properties of the instrument are thus not changing, while its player is.

scholarly journals Born to sing! Song development in a singing primate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara De Gregorio ◽  
Filippo Carugati ◽  
Vittoria Estienne ◽  
Daria Valente ◽  
Teresa Raimondi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Ontogenetic Changes ◽  
Call Structure ◽  
Historical View ◽  
Singing Behavior ◽  
Vocal Behaviour ◽  
Temporal Features ◽  
Vocal Activity ◽  
Song Development

Abstract In animal vocal communication, the development of adult-like vocalization is fundamental to interact appropriately with conspecifics. However, the factors that guide ontogenetic changes in the acoustic features remains poorly understood. In contrast with a historical view of nonhuman primate vocal production as substantially innate, recent research suggests that inheritance and physiological modification can only explain some of the developmental changes in call structure during growth. A particular case of acoustic communication is the indris' singing behavior, a peculiar case among Strepsirrhine primates. Thanks to a decade of intense data collection, this work provides the first long-term quantitative analysis on song development in a singing primate. To understand the ontogeny of such a complex vocal output, we investigated juvenile and sub-adult indris' vocal behaviour, and we found that young individuals started participating in the chorus years earlier than previously reported. Our results indicated that spectro-temporal song parameters underwent essential changes during growth. In particular, the age and sex of the emitter influenced the indris' vocal activity. We found that frequency parameters showed consistent changes across the sexes, but the temporal features showed different developmental trajectories for males and females. Given the low level of morphological sexual dimorphism and the marked differences in vocal behavior, we hypothesize that factors like social influences and auditory feedback may affect songs' features, resulting in high vocal flexibility in juvenile indris. This trait may be pivotal in a species that engages in choruses with rapid vocal turn-taking.

scholarly journals Traffic noise disrupts vocal development and suppresses immune function

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (20) ◽  
pp. eabe2405
Author(s):  
Henrik Brumm ◽  
Wolfgang Goymann ◽  
Sébastien Derégnaucourt ◽  
Nicole Geberzahn ◽  
Sue Anne Zollinger
Keyword(s):  
Immune Function ◽  
Noise Exposure ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Noise Pollution ◽  
Experimental Models ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Vocal Development ◽  
Learning Impairments ◽  
Cognitive Deficiencies

Noise pollution has been linked to learning and language deficits in children, but the causal mechanisms connecting noise to cognitive deficiencies remain unclear because experimental models are lacking. Here, we investigated the effects of noise on birdsong learning, the primary animal model for vocal learning and speech development in humans. We found that traffic noise exposure retarded vocal development and led to learning inaccuracies. In addition, noise suppressed immune function during the sensitive learning period, indicating that it is a potent stressor for birds, which is likely to compromise their cognitive functions. Our results provide important insights into the consequences of noise pollution and pave the way for future studies using birdsong as an experimental model for the investigation of noise-induced learning impairments.

scholarly journals Expression of FoxP2 in the basal ganglia regulates vocal motor sequences in the adult songbird

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Xiao ◽  
Devin P. Merullo ◽  
Therese M. I. Koch ◽  
Mou Cao ◽  
Marissa Co ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Dopamine Receptor ◽  
Speech Disorders ◽  
Receptor Expression ◽  
Vocal Development ◽  
Motor Actions

AbstractDisruption of the transcription factor FoxP2, which is enriched in the basal ganglia, impairs vocal development in humans and songbirds. The basal ganglia are important for the selection and sequencing of motor actions, but the circuit mechanisms governing accurate sequencing of learned vocalizations are unknown. Here, we show that expression of FoxP2 in the basal ganglia is vital for the fluent initiation and termination of birdsong, as well as the maintenance of song syllable sequencing in adulthood. Knockdown of FoxP2 imbalances dopamine receptor expression across striatal direct-like and indirect-like pathways, suggesting a role of dopaminergic signaling in regulating vocal motor sequencing. Confirming this prediction, we show that phasic dopamine activation, and not inhibition, during singing drives repetition of song syllables, thus also impairing fluent initiation and termination of birdsong. These findings demonstrate discrete circuit origins for the dysfluent repetition of vocal elements in songbirds, with implications for speech disorders.

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