• We show that male zebra finches ( Taeniopygia guttata ) frequently exhibit spontaneous song-like activity during the night, but that the fictive song patterns are highly variable and uncoordinated compared to the highly stereotyped day-time song production. (peerj.com)
  • The Australian zebra finch or chestnut-eared finch (Taeniopygia castanotis) is the most common estrildid finch of Central Australia. (wikipedia.org)
  • For over a century and a half, the Australian and Sunda zebra finches were classified as a single species, Taeniopygia guttata. (wikipedia.org)
  • Cynx, J. Experimental determination of a unit of song production in the zebra finch ( Taeniopygia guttata ). (strangeindia.com)
  • Song learning in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) is a prototypical example of a complex learned behavior, yet knowledge of the underlying molecular processes is limited. (ugent.be)
  • Gentner and Hulse, 2000 ), and female zebra finches ( Taeniopygia guttata ) will peck a key to hear male song ( Riebel, 2000 ). (frontiersin.org)
  • Calbindin-D28K expression increases in the dorsolateral hippocampus following corticosterone treatment in female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). (neurotree.org)
  • However, constraints on recording from a large number of neurons simultaneously and on maintaining single unit responses over sufficient time spans did not permit detection of which song sequences are replayed at night. (peerj.com)
  • The researchers in Seewiesen not only focus on the neuroanatomy of the typical areas of the songbird brain, such as the song nuclei, which are located in the forebrain (and include the nucleus robustus arcopallii , or RA for short), but even examine individual neurons at work when a male bewitches a female with his song or a young bird learns the basics of social chirping. (mpg.de)
  • The team found that birds who listened to songs with the distorted syllable had less neural activity among dopamine-producing neurons in the bird's brain. (the-scientist.com)
  • After many trials, the zebra finches began to respond differently to their own songs: when the birds heard a correct syllable that had been distorted in previous trials, VTA neurons showed higher dopamine activity than normal. (the-scientist.com)
  • In the songbird, the telencephalic nucleus LMAN (lateral magnocellular nucleus of anterior nidopallium) is necessary for feedback-dependent song decrystallization, although whether and how electrophysiological properties of LMAN neurons change during decrystallization is unknown. (jneurosci.org)
  • In normal adult zebra finches, LMAN neurons exhibit highly selective responses to auditory presentation of the bird's own song (BOS), possibly providing a permanent referent for song maintenance. (jneurosci.org)
  • In the finch, these dopamine-secreting PAG neurons send long fibers that end in the song cortex. (phys.org)
  • In young birds who hadn't met a tutor before, the researchers found that PAG neurons lit up with activity in the presence of a singing adult male, but were silent when the juvenile encountered quiet males or adult females, which do not sing, or heard zebra finch songs played over a speaker. (phys.org)
  • We combined serial block-face electron microscopy with light microscopy to determine the cell types targeted by HVC (RA) neurons, which control song timing. (elifesciences.org)
  • Song progression is paced by HVC (RA) neurons, which project to the primary downstream target area, known as the robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA) ( Figure 1a ). (elifesciences.org)
  • The electrode experiments examined the cooperation between premotor neurons that control singing and inhibitory interneurons that together enabled song learning. (eurekalert.org)
  • After the courtship songs were learned, none of the premotor neurons turned on in response to a tutor's song. (eurekalert.org)
  • The #3 post so far this year explored how zebra finches reward themselves for singing well: Dopamine is an important hormone released from neurons involved in reward pathways. (scienceblogs.com)
  • Intracellular characterization of song-specific neurons in the zebra finch auditory forebrain. (yale.edu)
  • We fit the model by maximum penalized likelihood to the spiking activity of zebra finch auditory midbrain neurons in response to conspecific vocalizations (songs) and modulation limited (ml) noise. (nih.gov)
  • In previous years we showed that a subset of neurons in the higher-level auditory cortex of juvenile zebra finches exhibit highly selective auditory responses to the tutor song after song learning, suggesting an auditory memory trace of the experienced tutor song (Yanagihara and Yazaki-Sugiyama, 2016). (oist.jp)
  • One group of neurons detect temporal patterns and another group responds to acoustic features of songs. (oist.jp)
  • Yanagihara S. and *Yazaki-Sugiyama Y. (2018) Social interaction with a tutor modulates responsiveness of specific auditory neurons in juvenile zebra finches. (oist.jp)
  • A female zebra finch finds herself surrounded by male suitors - but who to listen to? (theconversation.com)
  • Due to their extremely fine temporal-auditory discrimination, the zebra finch is able to recognise and respond to micro-auditory details nested within their calls which human ears cannot detect. (wikipedia.org)
  • They rely on auditory feedback for both song learning and practice as juveniles and song maintenance as adults. (wikipedia.org)
  • Adult male zebra finches maintain highly stable songs via auditory feedback. (jneurosci.org)
  • At various times after nerve section, electrophysiological recordings made under anesthesia revealed that auditory selectivity in LMAN could shift to the spectrally distorted song. (jneurosci.org)
  • Such auditory plasticity could be detected during the second week after nerve section, before the time birds typically decrystallized their songs. (jneurosci.org)
  • After critical period closure, song crystallizes into a highly stereotyped pattern less susceptible to auditory feedback perturbations. (jneurosci.org)
  • This selectivity develops in parallel with song learning (Solis and Doupe, 1997 ) and is compromised by chronically disrupting auditory feedback during song learning ( Solis and Doupe, 2000 ), suggesting that auditory feedback shapes LMAN selectivity ( Brainard and Doupe, 2000b ). (jneurosci.org)
  • At one extreme, BOS selectivity may be permanently fixed after crystallization, perhaps serving as an auditory referent for song maintenance. (jneurosci.org)
  • In support of this idea, juvenile zebra finches subjected to vocal nerve section fail to accurately imitate the tutor song and subsequently, as adults, lack auditory responses in LMAN ( Solis and Doupe, 2000 ). (jneurosci.org)
  • Their early auditory experience shapes their brain circuits for forming a memory of tutor song, then would affect later period of motor song learning and higher cognitive functions. (oist.jp)
  • Our lab has been interested in how songbirds detect their own species song for song learning and how early auditory experiences shape neuronal circuits in the brain, namely how to form a memory of tutor auditory experiences. (oist.jp)
  • These results suggest that social interaction modulates auditory cortical activity and might function in state-dependent song learning. (oist.jp)
  • Takashi Kudo & Yoko Yazaki-Sugiyama, Early auditory experience modifies neuronal firing properties in zebra finch auditory cortex. (oist.jp)
  • For example, like wild zebra finches, birds tutored with randomized sequences often placed a "distance call" - a long, low-pitched vocalization - at the end of their song. (mcgill.ca)
  • Thus, researchers were surprised to find that wild zebra finches sing to each other only after becoming a couple. (icr.org)
  • Vocal communication at the nest between mates in wild zebra finches: a private vocal duet? (icr.org)
  • The decision to focus on zebra finches, which weigh only ten grams, was no coincidence: the zebra finch is the avian species most commonly kept in laboratories all over the world. (mpg.de)
  • The duration of these phases considerably varies between species, as well as the number of songs that a juvenile has to hear in order to sing a proper song. (mpg.de)
  • In a series of experiments, the researchers found that young zebra finches - a species often used to study birdsong - are intrinsically biased to learn to produce particular kinds of sound patterns over others. (mcgill.ca)
  • Researchers already knew that juveniles don't copy songs played through a loudspeaker or sung by other species of birds . (phys.org)
  • Whether any particular species of songbird has music-like song depends on the parameter measured and the type of analysis employed. (frontiersin.org)
  • Songbirds of many species likewise show a phonotaxic response to conspecific song. (frontiersin.org)
  • The song phrases of many songbird species follow patterns that are similar to those used in human speech, researchers have found. (futurity.org)
  • Music of the Birds by Lang Elliott is a classic book and CD combo well over 10 years old, that provided bird lovers with a chance to learn to identify and appreciate the songs of numerous species. (scienceblogs.com)
  • How do they know to mimic the songs of their own species? (ted.com)
  • Teaching behavior, wherein individuals from bird species with specific songs must learn from adults, had been observed as early as Aristotle. (wileywiggins.com)
  • During the day it's hard to find a place without bird song, the morning chorus around the homestead, and the further you venture, the more species have found their song. (bushheritage.org.au)
  • 1st IRCN International Symposium Learning from bird song learning: Neuronal coding of species identity in silent gaps in zebra finch songs. (oist.jp)
  • Coleman, M. J. & Vu, E. T. Recovery of impaired songs following unilateral but not bilateral lesions of nucleus uvaeformis of adult zebra finches. (strangeindia.com)
  • Neuroinflammation and neurosteroidogenesis: Reciprocal modulation during injury to the adult zebra finch brain. (neurotree.org)
  • Recognizing when you're singing the right notes is a crucial skill for learning a melody, whether you're a human practicing an aria or a bird rehearsing a courtship song. (the-scientist.com)
  • Then, to mimic singing errors, they used custom-written software to play over, and thus distort, certain syllables of that finch's courtship song while the bird practiced. (the-scientist.com)
  • image: A tutoring male finch teaches a courtship song to a younger finch as researchers record nerve circuits. (eurekalert.org)
  • Precise changes in brain circuitry occur as young zebra finches go from listening to their fathers' courtship songs to knowing the songs themselves, according to a study led by neuroscientists at NYU Langone Medical Center and published online in a Science cover report on January 14. (eurekalert.org)
  • Adult male zebra finches (left) learn their songs and use them during courtship interactions with females (right). (futurity.org)
  • Songbirds learn to sing their courtship song from their tutor song experience intensively during development as humans learn to speak. (oist.jp)
  • The image shows an adult male zebra finch with a juvenile male. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen now found in juvenile zebra finches a possible mechanism that is responsible for the differences in the intensity of song learning. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • With this treatment the learning ability in juvenile males could be enhanced in such a way that they were able to copy the songs of the father as good as it had been observed in the best learners in a zebra finch nest. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • In this setup juvenile birds will readily learn the songs from their fathers. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • There is a critical sensitive period during which juvenile males learn their songs by imitating a mature, male tutor. (wikipedia.org)
  • Juvenile songbirds learn their songs in two phases, in the first step they hear an adult tutor song that they memorize in their brains. (mpg.de)
  • From playback studies it is known that hearing only a few songs can be sufficient for a juvenile to sing a decent song. (mpg.de)
  • When the researchers prevented the PAG brain region from communicating with the song cortex during the sensitive period, the juvenile bird grew up to sing very simple songs, as if it had never heard any tutor at all. (phys.org)
  • When the research team activated the dopamine-releasing PAG region while playing adult male zebra finch songs through a speaker, juvenile birds copied the song, even though there wasn't a real bird there. (phys.org)
  • For the record, here's a juvenile Song Sparrow. (musicbirdblog.com)
  • Only a small fraction of the massive differential expression in the developing zebra finch telencephalon could be explained by differential CpG and CpH DNA methylation. (ugent.be)
  • Glaze, C. M. & Troyer, T. W. Temporal structure in zebra finch song: implications for motor coding. (strangeindia.com)
  • Their song is a few small beeps, leading up to a rhythmic song of varying complexity in males. (wikipedia.org)
  • Manfred Gahr and his team want to find out what goes on in the heads of zebra finches when the males and females engage in a tête-à-tête. (mpg.de)
  • The results showed that already in autumn both groups of birds were similar in their song organisation and song performance, which suggests that late-hatched males must have undergone accelerated song development. (mpg.de)
  • In a large aviary containing more than 60 birds the researchers first measured song activity of adult males during the course of four months. (mpg.de)
  • Credit: Hayk_Shalunts/shutterstock) Zebra finch males sing just one song their entire lives. (discovermagazine.com)
  • A 2008 study showed brain chemistry patterns indicating that zebra finch males enjoy vocalizing for females. (icr.org)
  • Like humans, songbirds depend on hearing to learn their mating songs - males that sing poorly don't attract mates, so hearing a song, learning it, and singing correctly are all critical for songbird survival. (scitechdaily.com)
  • The stainless steel antenna protruding into the aviary is used to record the birdsong, but it also serves as a perch for the zebra finches. (mpg.de)
  • Each finch therefore had to individually "choose" which sequences to produce from this buffet of birdsong. (mcgill.ca)
  • By analysing the songs the researchers found that those sons that received more BDNF had a higher similarity with the song of their fathers compared to normally reared juveniles. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • During the song learning phase early hatched juveniles had a large number of adult tutors available whereas late hatched birds only heard a few or even no adult songs at all. (mpg.de)
  • It could therefore be that juveniles hatching at the end of the breeding season develop a different song because they do not hear tutor songs during the crucial first song learning phase. (mpg.de)
  • Alternatively it could be that juveniles do not have to hear the tutor song over an extended period but it might be rather important to hear it during a certain period, for example before the end of the song learning period in autumn when adults just start to sing again", says Cornelia Voigt, last author of the study. (mpg.de)
  • If juveniles don't meet a suitable tutor before they are 60 days old, they grow up to sing songs that are much simpler than those they might learn from a tutor. (phys.org)
  • We also revealed that zebra finch juveniles learn acoustic features of song elements, while they keep silent gap temporal patterns when they are raised by Bengalese finch foster parents. (oist.jp)
  • We have now discovered that this sleep activation can be detected in the muscles of the vocal organ, thus providing a unique window into song-related brain activity at night. (peerj.com)
  • Mooney, R. & Prather, J. F. The HVC microcircuit: the synaptic basis for interactions between song motor and vocal plasticity pathways. (strangeindia.com)
  • So Gadagkar and his colleagues investigated dopamine signaling in a go-to system for studying vocal learning, male zebra finches. (the-scientist.com)
  • To distinguish between these possibilities, we sectioned the vocal nerve in adult male zebra finches, which spectrally distorted the birds' songs. (jneurosci.org)
  • To distinguish between these possibilities, we severed the vocal nerve in adult male zebra finches, which immediately distorted spectral features of the songs but in most birds triggered changes to song temporal patterns only 2-3 weeks later (the delayed process defined here as decrystallization) ( Williams and McKibben, 1992 ). (jneurosci.org)
  • Our results show that finch song learning reflects a 'dance' inside the brain's vocal control center between nerve cells that capture information as the bird listens and those that direct muscle movement as it sings," says Long, an assistant professor of neuroscience at NYU Langone. (eurekalert.org)
  • The greatest threats to captive zebra finch survival are predation by cats and loss of natural food. (wikipedia.org)
  • This involves investigating the theoretical issues explicitly with formal mathematical models and measuring personality differences in captive zebra finches in various social and sexual contexts. (exeter.ac.uk)
  • They provided the nerve growth factor "BDNF" to the song control system in the brain. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • In one of the two brothers they enhanced the expression of BDNF in the song control system in the brain while the other brother did not get such a treatment. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • Brain areas devoted to song production in the songbird brain exhibit spontaneous song-like activity during sleep, but single cell neural recordings did not permit detection of the specific song patterns. (peerj.com)
  • For the purpose of this research, the Dutchman with the long silver hair launched what can only be described as large-scale wire(less)tapping of the department's zebra finches: he and his colleagues combine the listening of the calls and songs of the small finches with the telemetric recording of their brain waves. (mpg.de)
  • In this study we looked for neural responses to song in the avian homologues of music-responsive brain regions. (frontiersin.org)
  • A specific portion of the songbird brain allows the bird to sing its song, a process that has clear parallels with human speech. (elifesciences.org)
  • The study reveals how birds learn songs through observation and practice, and the authors hope the work will guide future research into how patients with brain injuries might reacquire the ability to learn skilled behaviors like speech. (eurekalert.org)
  • In the current study, led by Daniela Vallentin, PhD, and Georg Kosche in the NYU Neuroscience Institute, the research team found that early in adolescence, just listening to a father's song turns on the same brain cell networks that the young bird will use later to sing the song once learned. (eurekalert.org)
  • For the study, researchers used electrodes to track brain cell activity in young zebra finches as they learned songs from a mentoring parent over several weeks. (eurekalert.org)
  • Specifically, researchers found that the influence of the parent on the adolescent's nerve circuits gradually decreased as songs were learned, and that fast learners had faster brain changes. (eurekalert.org)
  • Using data from brain activity, researchers were able to replicate the song of zebra finches in exact detail. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • While studying songbirds, neurologists discovered that when their hearing was lost, their songs fell apart much like human vocalization does, making them an ideal subject to study how hearing loss may affect the parts of the brain that control vocalization. (scitechdaily.com)
  • Songbirds also resemble humans and differ from most other animals in that their songs fall apart when they lose their hearing, and this feature makes them an ideal organism to study how hearing loss may affect the parts of the brain that control vocalization, Mooney said. (scitechdaily.com)
  • Reciprocal interactions between prostaglandin E2- and estradiol-dependent signaling pathways in the injured zebra finch brain. (neurotree.org)
  • Central administration of indomethacin mitigates the injury-induced upregulation of aromatase expression and estradiol content in the zebra finch brain. (neurotree.org)
  • Photomicrograph of aromatase expression in astrocytes around the site of brain injury in the zebra finch. (lu.se)
  • Virus was also isolated from the brain (2 finches, 1 chicken) and eye (1 finch, 1 chicken) (Table 1). (cdc.gov)
  • Each male's song is different, although birds of the same bloodline will exhibit similarities, and all finches will overlay their own uniqueness onto a common rhythmic framework. (wikipedia.org)
  • Specifically, they attached electrodes to the birds' syringealis ventralis muscle, one of the main muscles the zebra finches use in singing, in order to track electrical signals from it. (discovermagazine.com)
  • In conclusion, our results indicate that DNA methylation regulates neurodevelopmental gene expression dynamics through steering transcription factor activity, but does not explain sexually dimorphic gene expression patterns in zebra finch telencephalon. (ugent.be)
  • At the same time, vast surveys of zebra finch songs have documented a variety of acoustic patterns found universally across populations. (mcgill.ca)
  • The research, which controls the birds' learning environment in ways that are not possible with young children, suggests that statistical learning alone -- the degree to which one is exposed to specific acoustic patterns -- cannot account for song (or speech) preferences. (mcgill.ca)
  • The idea that physical elements may play a role in these song patterns is supported by the fact that when the researchers compared the song patterns of birds that had been typically reared and tutored by their parents with those that had not been taught to sing by their parents (untutored birds), they found the same patterns. (futurity.org)
  • These results suggest that physical predispositions or limitations may play a role in producing these song patterns. (futurity.org)
  • has shown that birds were able to successfully imitate their tutor's song after relatively short exposure (40 playbacks of the motifs lasting 30 seconds total) over the duration of their sensitive learning period. (wikipedia.org)
  • If those connections aren't activated, a young finch fails to copy the tutor's song. (phys.org)
  • Zebra finches dial down dopamine signaling when they hear errors in a song performance. (the-scientist.com)
  • Gadagkar is now exploring dopamine-based song evaluation in the presence of the bird's intended audience: a female. (the-scientist.com)
  • Researchers at Cornell University wanted to know if dopamine signaling was involved in how birds learn songs. (scienceblogs.com)
  • Humans as well as zebra finches go through hurdles to find their perfect partner - and this may better ensure the survival of any offspring. (theconversation.com)
  • Zebra fish, by contrast, don't have a cortex (which is associated with sensation in higher animals, such as in humans), nor do they display REMs. (philosophynow.org)
  • We played male song to laboratory-housed white-throated sparrows, and immunolabeled the immediate early gene product Egr-1 in each region of the reward pathway that has a clear or putative homologue in humans. (frontiersin.org)
  • In females with breeding-typical plasma levels of estradiol, all of the regions of the mesolimbic reward pathway that respond to music in humans responded to song. (frontiersin.org)
  • There is no good evolutionary reason why finches should dialogue in duets after becoming mates. (icr.org)
  • Research in my group ranges from the development of explicit theoretical (mathematical and computational) models, through work on captive birds in aviaries (zebra finches, starlings) to work in the field with birds (pied flycatchers, barn swallows, red grouse, European shags, chestnut-crowned babblers) and mammals (badgers, lions, wolves, grey squirrels). (exeter.ac.uk)
  • They also study how both genes and learning behavior influence a bird's typical song and calls. (mpg.de)
  • It was thought that bird duets were just for mating purposes, but a study on zebra finches has opened a new window on bird behavior. (icr.org)
  • By now knowing the normal distribution of the learned songs within a zebra finch nest, as a next step the researchers were able to investigate the impact of BDNF on song learning. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • A new study published by Biomed Central has found that traffic noise may be linked to an increased rate of telomere loss, which accelerates the aging process, in Zebra finches that have left the nest. (earth.com)
  • The study revealed that Zebra finches who had been exposed to traffic noise after leaving the nest had shorter telomeres at 120 days than finches with less or no exposure. (earth.com)
  • While we have known for decades that adolescent songbirds only learn their songs if exposed to a tutor, we believe our study is the first to detail changes in nerve networks that make this mastery possible in maturing brains," says senior study investigator Michael Long, PhD. (eurekalert.org)
  • Interested in looking at microscopic images of zebra finch brains? (ted.com)
  • Foxp2 is also expressed in the brains of songbirds such as zebra finches and is critical to those birds' ability to learn songs. (medicalxpress.com)
  • Could the zebra finch's growing popularity ruffle The Body's feathers? (theconversation.com)
  • But blocking this pathway just after a pupil's daily session with a tutor did not affect its ability to copy the older finch's song. (phys.org)
  • However, underlying neuronal mechanism for social interaction dependent song learning has yet to be elucidated. (oist.jp)
  • The worst learners have only a similarity of 20% with their fathers' songs, whereas the best learners copy almost the entire songs of their fathers. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • Sons generally learn the song of their fathers with little variation. (wikipedia.org)
  • Produced by the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, this video captures young zebra finches memorizing the songs of their fathers. (ted.com)
  • Researchers found that interneurons suppress the impact of each note in a father's song as soon as it is learned, "locking" it into the younger bird's memory piece by piece. (eurekalert.org)
  • Here we examined the circuit anatomy of zebra finch HVC, a cortical region that generates sequences underlying the temporal progression of the song. (elifesciences.org)
  • In order to isolate biological predispositions, James and Sakata individually tutored young zebra finches with songs consisting of five acoustic elements arranged in every possible sequence. (mcgill.ca)
  • Duke researchers have identified the social component to a young bird's ability to learn songs from an adult. (phys.org)
  • Young male zebra finches must learn to copy the song of an adult tutor in order to ultimately attract a mate. (phys.org)
  • This is around the age at which zebra finches sexually mature, so he is considered a young adult. (scitechdaily.com)
  • In this study, we tested whether the homologous pathway responds in songbirds exposed to conspecific song. (frontiersin.org)
  • The Australian zebra finch was described in 1837 by John Gould as Amadina castanotis, about two decades after the Sunda zebra finch (T. guttata) was described. (wikipedia.org)
  • It is likely that the Australian zebra finch evolved first, with the Sunda zebra finch descending from Australian zebra finches blown out to sea during the Pleistocene. (wikipedia.org)
  • The Australian zebra finch has the most extensive mainland distribution of the Australian estrilids, being found in about 75% of mainland Australia. (wikipedia.org)
  • The Australian zebra finch is generally found in more arid areas. (wikipedia.org)
  • Although Australian zebra finch breeding, for example, is initiated by rainfall, Klaus Immelmann proposed that sustained heavy precipitation is detrimental to the zebra finch. (wikipedia.org)
  • The life expectancy of an Australian zebra finch is highly variable because of genetic and environmental factors. (wikipedia.org)
  • Australian zebra finches are loud and boisterous singers. (wikipedia.org)
  • Both observations are consistent with the notion that the neural sequences that pace the song are generated by global synaptic chains in HVC embedded within local inhibitory networks. (elifesciences.org)
  • Williams, H. & Vicario, D. S. Temporal patterning of song production: participation of nucleus uvaeformis of the thalamus. (strangeindia.com)
  • Population-level representation of a temporal sequence underlying song production in the zebra finch. (strangeindia.com)
  • Typically zebra finches learn songs during their adolescence, which begins roughly a month after birth and lasts 100 days, during which they practice each song hundreds of thousands of times. (eurekalert.org)
  • This Smithsonian piece explores the effects of "embryonic learning" in zebra finches, who often sing to their eggs. (ted.com)
  • They investigated zebra finch brother pairs that grew up with their genetic parents. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • Wild zebra finch pairs keep their eyes peeled for opportunities to cheat. (theconversation.com)
  • However, there are relatively large differences in the accuracy how these songs are copied. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • However there are differences in the intensity of song learning among siblings of the same age. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • Scientists from the Department of Behavioural Neurobiology at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen now investigated whether there are differences in the songs of domesticated canaries that hatch either early or late in the breeding season. (mpg.de)
  • However, there were differences in song between autumn and spring that were similar in both groups and agree with previous studies on seasonal song changes in adult male canaries. (mpg.de)
  • In a learning experiment with zebra finches, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen in collaboration with scientists from the Free University of Amsterdam could now show for the first time in songbirds that BDNF acts as cognitive enhancer. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • Therefore it is likely that the presence of BDNF in the song control system could correct possible inaccuracies in the song learning process, state the scientists around Manfred Gahr, who is the senior author of the study. (neurosciencenews.com)
  • Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen now compared learned songs from male canaries that hatched at the beginning and at the end of the breeding season. (mpg.de)
  • Now scientists find they may have a way to reconstruct the songs these birds sing in their dreams. (discovermagazine.com)
  • Based on this data, the scientists could fully reconstruct the songs each bird sung by just analyzing the activity of this one muscle. (discovermagazine.com)
  • Weizmann Institute scientists helped decipher the genome of Darwin's Zebra Finch. (weizmann.ac.il)
  • Behind this activity lie very concrete interests: male birds learn their song to impress females and to enhance their reproductive prospects. (mpg.de)
  • Prolonged exposure to distorted feedback may cause this stable (i.e., "crystallized") song to change its pattern, a process known as decrystallization. (jneurosci.org)
  • As the size and strength of nerve cell connections visibly changed under a microscope, researchers could even predict which songbirds would have worse songs in coming days. (scitechdaily.com)
  • I was very surprised that the weakening of connections between nerve cells was visible and emerged so rapidly - over the course of days these changes allowed us to predict which birds' songs would fall apart most dramatically," Tschida said. (scitechdaily.com)
  • During adulthood, by around 90 days, the bird's song goes through a crystallisation phase where their song template is stable and it no longer changes. (wikipedia.org)
  • Let's say the bird's song is ABCD," says Gadagkar. (the-scientist.com)
  • DNA methylation was very low, yet increased over time, particularly in song control nuclei. (ugent.be)
  • This plastic song is variable between renditions but begins to incorporate some recognisable elements of tutor songs. (wikipedia.org)
  • They further show that a reduced tutor availability has no substantial impact on the song development", says Johanna Teichel, one of the authors of the study. (mpg.de)
  • Songbirds can age out of the capacity to learn a tutor song just like a person can age out of the capacity to learn to speak French fluently. (phys.org)
  • Prior work suggested that each of the different muscles that play a part in bird song just controlled one acoustic feature of singing. (discovermagazine.com)
  • Our study suggests that urban noise alone, independent from the many other aspects of city life, such as light pollution or chemical pollution, is associated with increased telomere loss and may contribute to aging in Zebra finches," said study co-author Dr. Adriana Dorado-Correa. (earth.com)