Experimental Influences on Perceptual, Communicative, and Neural Capacities

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9722865 West/King The aim of the proposed research is to explore the role of different kinds of sensory experience on the ontogeny of avian communication, with a focus on reproductive skills and underlying neuroanatomical structures. Three objectives are outlined, using an avian model. First, the influence of adult stimulation on juvenile learners will be examined in a series of longitudinal studies. Measures of the effects of experience include vocal growth, vocal imitation, use of vocal signals, visual attention, and reproductive skills. Second, characteristics of female perception will be studied with special emphasis on modifiability of female mating preferences. New evidence suggests contextual influences on female preferences. Measures of preference include female responsiveness to auditory playback and female discrimination of potential mates. Finally, neural studies of the avian forebrain are planned to exploit new findings on females' use of song nuclei and males' use of a visual thalamic nucleus. The results of the proposed work should advance knowledge of the nature of developmental organization of vocal and perceptual learning and the integration of behavioral and neural plasticity. Finally, the neural analyses should broaden our understanding of the role of forebrain structures by revealing interdependencies between patterns of neural growth and availability of relevant ecological experience.