Controlling Auditory Feedback in Songbird Vocalization

描述(由申请人提供)：PI建议开发和测试 一种研究听觉反馈贡献的新方法 个人发声对声乐制作和声乐学习的影响。这 工作将在一种名为斑马雀的鸣鸟身上完成，因为这种鸣鸟会发出声音 系统提供了最易获得的动物模型，用于研究一些基本的 人类说话的机制。年幼的鸣鸟从 通过模仿人类语言的过程进行外部辅导 收购。发声模仿依赖于听觉信息，而不仅仅是听觉 被复制的发声，但也是为了处理个人自己的发声 发声，以使它们的形状与导师的发声效果相匹配 声音信号的感觉处理依赖于特殊的结构，这些结构 已经在鸣鸟的森林中被发现。到目前为止，研究方法 试听在鸣禽声乐学习中的作用一直很粗糙，例如。 外科手术震耳欲聋，或部分，例如提供间歇性延迟反馈 通过扬声器。一种更精确地传递听觉信息的方法 将允许实时听觉反馈在歌曲学习和 维修工作需要进行量化评估。PI建议1)开发一种 一种新型的耳机--鸟类佩戴的麦克风装置，它将使鸟类的听觉 发声过程中需要控制和操纵的反馈，2)呈现 成人发声过程中听觉反馈的改变和歌曲评估 稳定性，以及3)在青少年中呈现改变的听觉反馈 声乐练习和评估对歌曲制作和学习的影响。这些 研究将产生将推动重大未来的初始数据主体 从行为和神经两个层面进行研究。最终结果将是 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.