Neuroethology of songbird acoustic communication

我的研究项目旨在了解鸣禽发声交流的认知、知觉、进化、发展和神经基础。具体来说，我目前的目标是确定控制鸣禽对自然声音类别感知的近似机制（即，音符类型，呼叫类型），作为实现全面理解鸣禽声学通信这一最终目标的第一步。类别感知是一种强大的现象，在许多动物物种中得到了证明，包括人类和鸣禽。通过将大量的环境刺激（如鸣鸟的叫声）分类到感知类别中，而不是记住每个新的实例，动物可以快速适应新的环境刺激。例如，山雀群在听到另一群山雀的“chick-a-dee”叫声后，会迅速增加它们的叫声，减少它们的觅食活动。重要的是，他们这样做，而不必了解特定的呼吁或羊群发出的呼吁。相反，山雀会迅速将这种叫声归类为“外国鸟群”，并对感知到的威胁做出适当的反应。鸣禽不仅产生和感知这些自然类别，而且鸣禽也是研究类别感知的优秀模型系统;控制声音产生和感知的大脑区域和回路以及鸣禽在野外的感知能力和行为都是众所周知的。为了开始了解鸣禽的声音类别知觉，并在这样做的鸣禽声乐交流更普遍，我采取了综合的方法和联合收割机生物声学分析，现场回放实验，操作性条件反射实验，沿着与发展，神经生理学和神经解剖学的方法，以确定如何几个物种鸣禽认为他们的发声。总之，这项研究计划将增加我们的理解，不仅鸣禽通信，感知和认知，但将提供一般动物如何使用声学通信的一般见解。

My research program is aimed at understanding the cognitive, perceptual, evolutionary, developmental, and neural bases underlying vocal communication in songbirds. Specifically, my current aim is to determine the proximate mechanisms controlling songbirds' perception of the natural vocal categories (i.e., note-types, call types) contained in their calls and songs, as a first step towards this ultimate goal of developing comprehensive understanding songbird acoustic communication. The perception of categories is a powerful phenomenon that has been demonstrated in many animal species, including humans and songbirds. By sorting large numbers of environmental stimuli, such as songbird vocalizations, into perceptual categories rather than memorizing each new instance, animals can quickly adapt to novel environmental stimuli. For example, chickadee flocks rapidly increase their calling and decrease their foraging activities after hearing another flock's 'chick-a-dee' call. Importantly, they do so without having to learn about the particular call or the flock emitting the call. Rather, chickadees quickly sort the call into a "foreign flock" category and respond appropriately to the perceived threat. Not only do songbirds produce and perceive these natural categories, but songbirds also represent an excellent model system for studying category perception; the brain areas and circuits controlling vocal production and perception are well known as are songbirds' perceptual abilities and behaviour in the wild. In order to begin to understand vocal category perception in songbirds specifically, and in so doing of songbird vocal communication more generally, I take an integrative approach and combine bioacoustic analyses, field playback experiments, and operant conditioning experiments, along with developmental, neurophysiological and neuroanatomical approaches to determine how several species songbirds perceive their vocalizations. Taken together, this research program will increase our understanding not only of songbird communication, perception and cognition but will provide general insights into how animals in general use acoustic communication.