scholarly journals Individual vocal recognition in zebra finches relies on song syllable structure rather than song syllable order

2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (9) ◽  
pp. jeb220087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Geberzahn ◽  
Sébastien Derégnaucourt
Keyword(s):  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Vocal Recognition

Social Modulation of Sequence and Syllable Variability in Adult Birdsong

2008 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 1700-1711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon T. Sakata ◽  
Cara M. Hampton ◽  
Michael S. Brainard
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Biological Noise ◽  
Model Species ◽  
Social Modulation ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Over Time

Birdsong is a learned motor skill that is performed with a high degree of stereotypy in adult birds. Nevertheless, even in species where song “crystallizes” in a form that remains stable over time, there is residual variability. Such variability in well-learned skills is often construed as uncontrolled and irrelevant biological “noise.” However, studies in the zebra finch indicate that variability in one song feature—the structure of individual syllables—is actively regulated and may serve a function. When male zebra finches sing alone (undirected song), variability in syllable structure is elevated relative to when they sing to females in a courtship context (female-directed song). This elevated variability is actively introduced to premotor structures controlling syllable production by a forebrain-basal ganglia circuit. Here we test whether social modulation of song variability extends to syllable sequencing, a hierarchically distinct feature of song organization controlled by separate neural substrates from syllable structure. We use Bengalese finches as a model species because, unlike zebra finches, they typically retain substantial moment-by-moment variability in the sequencing of syllables in crystallized adult song. We first show social modulation of previously studied song features, including syllable structure and song tempo. We then demonstrate that variability in syllable sequencing is rapidly modulated by social context with greater variability present in undirected song. These data indicate that the nervous system exerts active control over variability at multiple levels of song organization and support the hypothesis that such variability in otherwise stable adult song serves a function.

Early life nutritional stress affects song learning but not underlying neural circuitry in zebra finches.

2020 ◽  
Vol 134 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-232
Author(s):  
Khulganaa Buyannemekh ◽  
Jessica B. Zito ◽  
Michelle L. Tomaszycki
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Nutritional Stress ◽  
Neural Circuitry ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Zebra Finches

Opioid modulation of cell proliferation in the ventricular zone of adult zebra finches (Taenopygia guttata)

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 3681-3695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazia Khurshid ◽  
L. Shahul Hameed ◽  
Sivaraj Mohanasundaram ◽  
Soumya Iyengar
Keyword(s):  
Cell Proliferation ◽  
Ventricular Zone ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Taenopygia Guttata

Simple metathesis in loanword phonology: the Arabic-Romance language contact

2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
pp. 1049-1084
Author(s):  
Yvonne Kiegel-Keicher
Keyword(s):  
Structural Change ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Stressed Syllable ◽  
Romance Language ◽  
Syllable Weight ◽  
Systematic Process ◽  
Loanword Phonology

AbstractSimple metathesis can be found in numerous Ibero-Romance arabisms compared with their Andalusi Arabic etyma. The analysis of a corpus of Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan arabisms illustrates its effects on syllable structure and syllable weight. It can be shown that Arabic-Romance simple metathesis constitutes a motivated structural change that provides for typologically unmarked syllable weight relations within the word. After the resyllabification it entails the involved unstressed syllables no longer excede the stressed syllable in weight. However, it is not an obligatory, systematic process, but merely an optional tendency, which corresponds to the universal tendency expressed by the Weight Law.

scholarly journals Adding colour-realistic video images to audio playbacks increases stimulus engagement but does not enhance vocal learning in zebra finches

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith M. Varkevisser ◽  
Ralph Simon ◽  
Ezequiel Mendoza ◽  
Martin How ◽  
Idse van Hijlkema ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Frame Rate ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Video Content ◽  
Biologically Relevant ◽  
Video Images

AbstractBird song and human speech are learned early in life and for both cases engagement with live social tutors generally leads to better learning outcomes than passive audio-only exposure. Real-world tutor–tutee relations are normally not uni- but multimodal and observations suggest that visual cues related to sound production might enhance vocal learning. We tested this hypothesis by pairing appropriate, colour-realistic, high frame-rate videos of a singing adult male zebra finch tutor with song playbacks and presenting these stimuli to juvenile zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Juveniles exposed to song playbacks combined with video presentation of a singing bird approached the stimulus more often and spent more time close to it than juveniles exposed to audio playback only or audio playback combined with pixelated and time-reversed videos. However, higher engagement with the realistic audio–visual stimuli was not predictive of better song learning. Thus, although multimodality increased stimulus engagement and biologically relevant video content was more salient than colour and movement equivalent videos, the higher engagement with the realistic audio–visual stimuli did not lead to enhanced vocal learning. Whether the lack of three-dimensionality of a video tutor and/or the lack of meaningful social interaction make them less suitable for facilitating song learning than audio–visual exposure to a live tutor remains to be tested.

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