What songbirds teach us about learning

Bird fanciers have known for centuries that songbirds learn their songs. This learning has striking parallels to speech acquisition: like humans, birds must hear the sounds of adults during a sensitive period, and must hear their own voice while learning to vocalize. With the discovery and investiga...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 2002-05, Vol.417 (6886), p.351-358
Main Authors: BRAINARD, Michael S, DOUPE, Allison J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging - physiology
Animal cognition
Animal communication
Animals
Auditory Cortex - cytology
Auditory Cortex - growth & development
Auditory Cortex - physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Birds
Ear and associated structures. Auditory pathways and centers. Hearing. Vocal organ. Phonation. Sound production. Echolocation
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hearing - physiology
Humans
Learning
Learning - physiology
Motor Cortex - cytology
Motor Cortex - growth & development
Motor Cortex - physiology
Neurology
Neuronal Plasticity
non-visual perception
Passeres
Passeriformes
Prosencephalon - cytology
Prosencephalon - growth & development
Prosencephalon - physiology
Songbirds
Songbirds - physiology
Species diversity
Synapses - physiology
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
Vocalization, Animal - physiology
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Summary:Bird fanciers have known for centuries that songbirds learn their songs. This learning has striking parallels to speech acquisition: like humans, birds must hear the sounds of adults during a sensitive period, and must hear their own voice while learning to vocalize. With the discovery and investigation of discrete brain structures required for singing, songbirds are now providing insights into neural mechanisms of learning. Aided by a wealth of behavioural observations and species diversity, studies in songbirds are addressing such basic issues in neuroscience as perceptual and sensorimotor learning, developmental regulation of plasticity, and the control and function of adult neurogenesis.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/417351a