Co-evolution of auditory coding and vocal behavior

该奖项由2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)资助。了解进化如何塑造社会交流的一个主要问题是确定通信信号发送者和接收者的大脑和行为是如何匹配的，以便发声等信号传递有意义的社会信息。鸣禽之所以被用来解决这个问题，是因为它们天生就有发出和听到自己物种复杂发声(歌声)的天赋。然而，它们必须学会在发育过程中产生自己的歌声，并识别其他鸟类的歌声。这个项目的目的是通过测试特定物种的声学和神经听觉调谐之间的关系，以及发展经验在歌曲产生和听觉处理中的作用，来确定先天和后天的相互作用如何建立起调节声音交流的大脑机制。将在实验室饲养三个相关物种，它们会产生非常不同的歌曲。有些将被交叉养育，这样一个物种的鸟类就可以体验和学习另一个物种的歌声。利用行为、神经生理学和解剖学的综合分析，将确定遗传身份和经验在发声声学和大脑听觉处理中对发送者和接收者匹配的贡献。遗传特性和发育经验的明显贡献预计将通过杂交歌声和由自己物种饲养的鸟类与交叉养育的鸟类之间的听觉处理差异来证明。这项工作将展示指导学习和社会行为的知觉机制是如何在大脑中创建的。了解不同物种之间感觉功能的差异，以及这些差异如何与物种特定的社会行为相关，将描述大脑进化以支持感觉和运动系统之间的物种形成和功能匹配的一般机制。这些研究是专门为最大限度地让本科生参与研究而设计的，该项目包括与当地中学系统的接触。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).A major issue in understanding how evolution has shaped social communication is determining how the brains and behavior of communication signal sender and receiver are matched so that signals such as vocalizations convey meaningful social information. Songbirds are used to address this issue because they have innate predispositions for producing and hearing the complex vocalizations (songs) of their own species. Yet, they must learn to produce their own songs during development and to recognize the songs of other birds. The aim of this project is to determine how the interplay of nature and nurture builds the brain mechanisms that mediate vocal communication by testing the relationship between species-specific vocal acoustics and neural auditory tuning, and the role of developmental experience in song production and auditory processing. Three related species that produce very different songs will be raised in the laboratory. Some will be cross-fostered so that birds of one species experience and learn the songs of another species. Using the integrated analysis of behavior, neurophysiology and anatomy, the contributions of genetic identity and experience to the matching of sender and receiver in vocal acoustics and auditory processing in the brain will be determined. Clear contributions of both genetic identity and developmental experience are expected to be demonstrated by hybrid songs and differences in auditory processing between birds raised by their own species and cross-fostered birds. This work will provide a demonstration of how perceptual mechanisms that guide learning and social behavior are created in the brain. Understanding how sensory function differs across species and how those differences are related to species-specific social behavior will describe general mechanisms whereby the brain evolves to support speciation and functional matching between sensory and motor systems. These studies are designed specifically to maximize the participation of undergraduate students in research, and the project includes outreach to the local middle school system.