Integrating Perception and Communication: The Function of Acoustic Fine Structure in Natural Zebra Finch Communication

鸟类和人类有重叠的听觉范围，但这并不意味着它们感知复杂声音的方式相同。事实上，鸟类的听觉时间处理能力远远超过人类。从对人类的研究来看，这种时间处理能力使人们更容易理解嘈杂环境中的言语，并有助于识别熟悉的说话者。到目前为止，还没有研究对鸟类时间处理能力的增强功能进行测试。这一提议将测试鸟类特殊的时间处理能力的功能。如果鸟类利用这些细微的声音细节，这将是惊人的，因为实验室研究表明它们能够听到这些细节。到目前为止，这些声学细节在很大程度上超出了传统生物学方法所能捕捉到的范围。因此，这一提议可能会从根本上影响人们对鸟鸣的描述。反过来，研究具有这种特殊的时间处理能力的鸟类可能会对与人一生中听力个体差异相关的研究产生更广泛的影响。最后，很多人都喜欢呆在鸟身边和听鸟叫声。因此，这项建议还包括制定一个无障碍的多媒体外展计划。由于沟通能力不同，残疾人往往被排除在积极参与外展项目之外。此外，利用动物交流的多样性来帮助创造包容性空间来思考和联系人类交流的多样性是一个很好的机会。为了理解社会行为和交流的机制，对一个物种的感知空间或“umwelt”有一个全面的理解是至关重要的。这个建议结合了社会行为方面的专业知识和心理物理学方法的精确性。鸟类辨别声音细节的能力是人类的十倍。到目前为止，在所有被研究的七种鸟类中都发现了这种特殊的声学精细结构（AFS）辨别能力。本研究旨在发现鸟类这种感知能力的潜在功能。为了在鸟类的自然生态中正确定位对AFS的感知，本提案追求三条不同的调查路线。(1)为了确定对AFS的感知是否会影响声乐学习，将使用自然和人工刺激进行歌曲学习实验，这些刺激的复杂性和AFS类型各不相同。(2)为了测试噪声对个体感知自然声音信号能力的影响，将采用经典的心理物理学实验。(3)为了确定AFS在塑造社会交流中的作用，将使用人工和自然刺激来确定AFS在求爱和配对过程中是否重要。这三种观点的结合将阐明鸟类感知能力在自然交际语境中的作用。此外，这些研究将为今后在不同分类群中更充分地整合基本感知和自然行为学的研究奠定基础。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Birds and humans have an overlapping hearing range, but this does not mean they are perceiving complex sounds the same way. In fact, birds have an auditory temporal processing ability that far exceeds humans. From research on humans, it has been shown that such temporal processing abilities make it easier to understand speech in noisy environments and facilitate the identification of familiar talkers. Thus far, there has been no research testing the function of bird’s enhanced temporal processing ability. This proposal will test the function of birds exceptional temporal processing ability. It would be striking if birds are using these fine acoustic details which lab studies have shown they are capable of hearing. Such acoustic details have so far been largely beyond the scope of what traditional biological approaches have been able to capture. Thus, this proposal may fundamentally impact how birdsong is described going forward. Reciprocally, studying bird species with such exceptional temporal processing abilities may have broader impact on research related to individual differences in hearing of people over their lifetime. Finally, both being around and listening to birds is something many people enjoy. Therefore, this proposal also includes developing an accessible multimedia outreach program. Too often disabled people are excluded from active participation in outreach programs due to different communication abilities. Furthermore, there is a powerful opportunity to leverage diversity in animal communication to help create inclusive spaces for thinking about and relating to diversity in human communication. To understand mechanisms of social behavior and communication, it is critical to have a comprehensive understanding of the perceptual space, or ‘umwelt,’ of a species. This proposal combines expertise in social behavior with the precision of a psychophysical approach. A bird’s ability to discriminate fine acoustic details in vocalizations is about ten times better than a human’s ability. So far, this exceptional ability to discriminate acoustic fine structure (AFS) has been identified in all seven avian species studied. This proposal aims to discover potential functions of this perceptual ability in birds. To properly situate the perception of AFS in the natural ecology of birds, this proposal pursues three distinct lines of inquiry. (1) To determine whether perception of AFS shapes vocal learning, song learning experiments will be conducted using natural and artificial stimuli that vary in their complexity and type of AFS. (2) To test the effect of noise on an individual’s ability to perceive natural vocal signals, classic psychophysical experiments will be used. (3) To identify the role of AFS in shaping social communication, artificial and natural stimuli will be used to determine if AFS is important during courtship and pair bonding. Combined these three perspectives will clarify the function of bird’s perceptual ability in natural communicative contexts. Furthermore, these studies will provide a foundation for future research aiming to integrate basic perception and natural ethology more fully across taxa.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.