VOCAL-LEARNING MODEL FOR NEURONAL BASIS ON COGNITION

这项工作将增加我们对大脑通路的理解， 以及它们之间的联系， 被经验改变。 使用的对象是两种 金丝雀和斑胸草雀通过模仿 他们听到的声音。 顺行和逆行示踪剂将用于研究 大脑中参与大脑活动的部分的连接--输入和输出， 对这种习得行为的控制 细胞外和细胞内 电极将被用来表征神经元的电活动 在歌曲制作过程中，当动物被呈现各种 声音. 其中的问题是，声音和声音之间的关系是什么？ 输入和声音输出？以及调节这种关系的途径 受经验、性别、季节和荷尔蒙变量的影响？ 另一 问题是，解剖学上对称的歌唱路径 功能，以产生一个不对称的显性控制？ 健康 这项工作的相关性来自于它可能提供的信息， 有助于了解决定 “什么时候”，“什么”，“多少”和“如何”的学习， 脊椎动物大脑的这些高级功能可以用一种更复杂的方法来实现。 比现在更科学。 一个额外的期望，基于 初步的观察是， 成年人学习中的可塑性可能告诉我们大脑的 自我修复的潜力和控制它的因素。

The work proposed will increase our understanding of brain pathways used for the acquisition of a complex skill and the way they are connected and altered by experience. The subjects to be used are two species of songbird, the canary and zebra finch, that learn their song by imitating sounds they hear. Anterograde and retrograde tracers will be used to study the connectivity -- inputs and outputs -- of parts of the brain involved in the control of this learned behavior. Extracellular and intracellular electrodes will be used to characterize the electrical activity of neurons during song production and at the time the animal is presented with various sounds. Among the questions asked are, what is the relation between sound input and vocal output?, and how are pathways that mediate this relation affected by experience, sex, season and hormonal variables? Another question asked is how do anatomically symmetrical pathways for singing function so as to generate an asymmetry in manifest control? The health relatedness of this work comes by way of the information it might contribute towards an understanding of the mechanisms that determine the "when", "what", "how much" and "how" of learning, so that malfunction of these higher functions of the vertebrate brain can be approached in a more scientific manner than at present. An added expectation, based on preliminary observations, is that an understanding of the kinds of brain plasticity used in learning in adulthood may tell us about the brain's potential for self-repair and the factors that control it.