NEURAL ANALYSIS OF VOCAL LEARNING

发声学习的神经分析

• 批准号: 2445578
• 负责人: Allison Jane Doupe
• 金额: $ 12.44万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 1996
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1996-07-01 至 2001-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2445578
• 关键词: Aves; animal communication behavior; auditory feedback; behavioral /social science research tag; biological models; central neural pathway /tract; developmental neurobiology; language development; learning; memory; neural information processing; prosencephalon; psychomotor function; sensorimotor system; vocalization

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicant's abstract): The long term goal is to understand the neural basis of learning and memory, particularly how the brain stores and represents complex sensory information, and how it uses sensory information to guide learning of motor behaviors. Vocal learning in songbirds provides a useful system for studying these questions. Birds learn their song from adult "tutors" in two distinct stages, both of which depend on auditory experience and feedback. First, during a critical period for sensory learning, young birds hear the tutor song, and memorize an internal representation, or "template", of this song. Then, during a sensorimotor learning period, they use auditory feedback from their own voice to gradually refine their vocal output so that it matches the stored tutor template. Moreover, birds have specialized brain structures devoted to song learning, in which many of the important neural changes are likely to occur. Finally, because song learning has a number of specific features in common with speech acquisition, it may provide particular insight into mechanisms underlying human vocal learning and critical periods for language development. The anterior forebrain (AF) pathway of the song system is known to play a critical role in song learning, but its exact function remains unclear. Neurons in this pathway respond to sounds, project to the vocal motor pathway, and by adulthood have developed highly selective auditory responsiveness to the bird's own song. These properties suggest that AF neurons might be involved during sensory learning in storage of the sensory template for song, and then, during sensorimotor learning, provide auditory feedback to the motor pathway to guide refinement of vocalizations. The proposed experiments will test these hypotheses. First, study of the neurons of the AF pathway in young finches, at the close of the sensory period, will determine exactly when song selectivity emerges. Second manipulations of the animal's vocalizations during learning will clarify whether the selectivity of these AF neurons is shaped by sensory experience of the tutor, feedback from the animal's own voice, or both. In these experiments, birds' developing vocalizations (plastic song) will also be quantitatively analyzed, and compared to the emerging tuning properties of their AF neurons, to increase our understanding of how neurons encode and discriminate such complex stimuli. Finally, the idea that the AF provides crucial sensory feedback to the vocal motor pathway will be tested by assessing the contribution of AF inputs to neural responses in its target song motor nucleus, at several different stages of learning.

描述（根据申请人的摘要改编）：长期目标是 了解学习和记忆的神经基础，尤其是 脑存储并代表复杂的感官信息，以及它如何使用 感官信息指导运动行为的学习。 声带学习 鸣禽为研究这些问题提供了有用的系统。 鸟类 在两个不同的阶段中从成人“导师”中学习他们的歌 取决于听觉经验和反馈。 首先，在关键时期 对于感官学习，幼鸟听到了导师的歌，并记住 这首歌的内部表示或“模板”。 然后，在 感觉运动学习期，他们使用自己的听觉反馈 声音逐渐完善其声音输出，以使其与存储 导师模板。 此外，鸟类具有专门的大脑结构 对于歌曲学习，许多重要的神经变化可能是 发生。 最后，因为歌曲学习具有许多特定功能 与语音获取共同，它可能会特别了解 人声学习和语言关键时期的基础机制 发展。 众所周知，歌曲系统的前脑前脑（AF）途径 在歌曲学习中的关键作用，但其确切功能尚不清楚。 此途径中的神经元对声音做出响应，投影到声带 途径，成年后发展了高度选择性的听觉 对鸟自己的歌曲的回应。 这些特性表明AF 在感官的感觉学习过程中可能涉及神经元 歌曲的模板，然后在感觉运动学习期间提供听觉 反馈到汽车通路，以指导声音的完善。 这 提出的实验将检验这些假设。 首先，研究 年轻雀科的AF通路神经元，在感官结束时 时期，将确切确定何时出现歌曲的选择。 第二 在学习过程中对动物发声的操纵将澄清 这些AF神经元的选择性是否由感官体验塑造 辅导员，动物自己的声音或两者兼而有之。 在这些 实验，鸟类的发声（塑料歌曲）也将是 定量分析，并将其与 他们的AF神经元，以增加我们对神经元如何编码和 区分这种复杂的刺激。 最后，AF提供的想法 对声带途径的关键感觉反馈将通过 评估AF输入对其目标中神经反应的贡献 歌曲运动核，在几个不同的学习阶段。