Female calls promote song learning in male juvenile zebra finches

• Published in: Nature communications 2024-10, Vol.15 (1), p.8938-14, Article 8938
• Main Authors: Bistere, Linda, Gomez-Guzman, Carlos M., Xiong, Yirong, Vallentin, Daniela
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/378/3920; 631/601/18; 64; Animals; Calling behavior; Circuits; Female; Females; Finches - physiology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Imitative Behavior - physiology; Information processing; Juveniles; Learning; Learning - physiology; Male; Males; Minors; multidisciplinary; Neural networks; Neurons; Neurons - physiology; Observational learning; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Social behavior; Social discrimination learning; Social interactions; Song control nuclei; Vocalization behavior; Vocalization, Animal - physiology
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53251-z

Social interactions promote vocal learning, but the impact of social feedback on this process and its neural circuitry is not well understood. We studied song imitation in juvenile male zebra finches raised either in the presence or absence of adult females. Juveniles learned songs more accurately with a female present, suggesting her presence improves imitation. When female calls correlated with practice, tutees’ songs better resembled the tutor’s, hinting toward the possibility that females provide practice-specific vocalizations. Intracellular recordings of HVC projection neurons revealed that a subset of these neurons in both juveniles and adults is sensitive to female calls during listening, suggesting a consistent neural mechanism for processing important vocalizations, regardless of age. However, call-related neural responses during singing were observed only in juveniles. These findings highlight how vocalizations, beyond those of the tutor, influence the neural circuits for vocal learning and production. Juvenile male zebra finches learn their songs from adult male tutors, but the role of females in this process is less clear. Here the authors show that the presence of adult females enhances song imitation in young males, with female calls influencing both the behavior and neural activity linked to vocal learning.