Integrative Study of Vocal Development

描述(由申请人提供)：这项拟议的工作将通过定量描述鸣鸟(斑雀)发育过程中多种生理变量与发声之间的关系，促进对感觉-运动学习神经机制的理解。年轻的雄性斑马雀通过模仿人类语音习得的过程从成年模特那里学习歌曲。习得的歌声，由两个大脑半球通过鸟的空洞(发声器官)中的左右声音发生器，在有模式的呼吸压力脉冲上协调作用而产生的不同声音的刻板序列组成。行为方法已经被开发出来，通过呈现一首模型歌曲来触发声音模拟过程，然后在时刻基础上测量声音输出的新兴结构。鸟类迅速地将其有限、不稳定的发声曲目转变为由时间和声学参数定义的不同音节类型的模式-这是一个分化和稳定的过程。这项申请提出了一个跨学科的合作，以研究这一学习过程在行为，发音和大脑水平的实验室具有专业知识的生理，行为和计算方法的Motol收入。使用标准化的行为范式，语音输出和生理数据将在学习过程中的关键时刻从系统的不同级别记录下来。SING的出现结构将与：1)记录为呼吸压力模式和空洞气流的发音手势；2)涉及呼吸与空洞控制的声核RA亚区的运动前活动；以及3)声核HVC的同步输入在歌曲启动和协调中的作用。对行为和多层次生理数据的定量分析将产生详细的描述，说明在发育过程中神经活动是如何结构成一个学习的时间模式的，以及控制不同声音效应器的多种模式如何结合在一起产生所听到的歌曲。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed work will advance understanding of the neural mechanisms of sensory-motor learning by providing a quantitative description of the relationship between multiple physiological variables and vocal performance during development in a songbird, the zebra finch. Young male zebra finches learn their songs from adult models through a process of imitation that resembles human speech acquisition. Learned song, consists of a stereotyped sequence of distinct sounds produced by coordinated action of the two brain hemispheres, via right and left sound generators in the bird's syrinx (vocal organ), on patterned respiratory pressure pulses. Behavioral methods have been developed that trigger the vocal imitation process by presenting a model song, then measure the emerging structure of vocal output on a moment-to-moment basis. The bird rapidly transforms its limited, unstable vocal repertoire into a pattern of distinct syllable types defined by temporal and acoustic parameters - a process of differentiation and stabilization. This application proposes an interdisciplinary collaboration to study this learning process at the behavioral, articulatory, and brain levels in laboratories with expertise in physiological, behavioral and computational approaches to motol earning. Using the standardized behavioral paradigm, vocal output and physiological data will be recorded from different levels of the system at critical times during learning. The emerging structure of song will be elated to: 1) articulatory gestures recorded as respiratory pressure patterns and syringeal airflow; 2) premotor activity in subregions of vocal nucleus RA involved in respiratory vs. syringeal control; and 3) the role of synchronizing inputs to vocal nucleus HVC in song initiation and coordination. Quantitative analysis of the behavior and multi-level physiological data will yield a detailed account of how neural activity is structured into a learned temporal pattern during development and how multiple patterns, controlling different vocal effectors, combine to produce the song that is heard.