Sensory Motor Representation of a Learned Skill

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EXCEED THE SPACE PROVIDED. The P.I.proposes to study the neural basis of vocal communication in a songbird, the zebra finch. Songbirds use vocalizations to communicate with conspecifics in social and reproductive contexts. Young birds learn many of these vocalizations from external tutors through a process of imitation that resembles human speech acquisition. Specialized structures in the songbird forebrain are involved in vocal production and in sensory processing of vocal signals. The vocal control system in the songbird brain is the best developed animal model for human speech learning. The proposed experiments will use neurophysiological and behavioral methods to analyze the roles of these identified structures in a common finch behavior in which one bird calls in response to hearing the call of another bird. The projects described will examine the way that conspecific vocal communication signals are represented hi neural activity in two of these structures in the telencephalon: one is on the final vocal motor pathway, and the other is an auditory integration area. Specifically, the P.I.will: 1) compare auditory processing in the vocal motor system in several behavioral situations; 2) examine neural processes involved in production of the vocal motor output; 3) study auditory processing that underlies the discrimination of conspecific signals; and 4) study the development of these processes in young birds during the period of vocal learning. The results will further our understanding of how hearing conspecific vocal signals leads to the production of responsive vocalizations in songbirds, and may also shed light on fundamental neural processes involved in translating a sensory signal into a skilled motor response. PERFORMANCE SITE ========================================Section End===========================================