Controlling Auditory Feedback in Songbird Vocalization

描述（由申请人提供）：PI建议开发和测试 一种新的方法来研究听觉反馈的贡献， 个体自身发声对发声和发声学习的影响。这 工作将在一个鸣禽，斑胸草雀，因为鸣禽声乐 系统提供了最容易获得的动物模型，用于研究一些基本的 人类语言的机制。年轻的鸣鸟从 通过模仿类似人类语言的过程进行外部指导 采集声乐模仿不仅依赖于听觉信息， 复制的发声，同时也处理个体自己的发声， 发音，使他们的形状，以配合导师的。配唱制作 声音信号的感觉处理依赖于专门的结构， 在鸣禽的前脑中被发现。迄今为止，研究方法 听觉在鸣禽发声学习中的作用要么是粗糙的，例如， 手术性耳聋或部分，例如，间歇性延迟反馈 通过扬声器。一种更精确的传递听觉信息的方法 将允许在歌曲学习中发挥实时听觉反馈的作用， 对维护进行定量评估。PI建议1）制定一个 新的耳机麦克风设备，由鸟佩戴，这将使听觉 发声过程中的反馈要控制和操纵，2）呈现 成人发声过程中听觉反馈的改变及对歌曲的评估 稳定性，和3）目前改变听觉反馈的青少年期间， 声乐练习和评估对歌曲制作和学习的影响。这些 研究将产生一个初步的数据，将推动重大的未来 行为和神经层面的研究。最终结果将 促进我们对声乐学习的基本机制的理解， 鸣禽

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The PI proposes to develop and test a novel method for studying the contribution of auditory feedback from an individual's own vocalizations to vocal production and to vocal learning. This work will be done in a songbird, the zebra finch, because the songbird vocal system provides the most accessible animal model for studying some of the basic mechanisms of human speech. Young songbirds learn their vocalizations from external tutors through a process of imitation that resembles human speech acquisition. Vocal imitation depends on auditory information not only to hear the vocalizations that are copied, but also to process the individual's own vocalizations so that they are shaped to match the tutor's. Vocal production and sensory processing of vocal signals depend on specialized structures that have been identified in the songbird foreb1ain. To date, methods for studying the role of audition in songbird vocal learning have been either crude, e.g. surgical deafening, or partial, e.g. episodic delayed feedback delivered through speakers. A more precise method of delivering auditory information would permit the role of real-time auditory feedback in song learning and maintenance to be quantitatively assessed. The PI proposes 1) to develop a novel headphone-microphone device, worn by the bird, that will enable auditory feedback during vocalization to be controlled and manipulated, 2) to present altered auditory feedback during vocal production in adults and assess song stability, and 3) to present altered auditory feedback in juveniles during vocal practice and assess effects on song production and learning. These studies will produce an initial body of data that will drive significant future research at both the behavioral and neural levels. The eventual results will advance our understanding of fundamental mechanisms of vocal learning in songbirds.