Definition
Songbirds produce complex vocalizations, a behavior that depends on the ability of juveniles to imitate the song of an adult. Song learning relies on a specialized basal ganglia-thalamocortical loop. Several computational models have examined the role of this circuit in song learning, shedding light on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying sensorimotor learning.
Detailed Description
Songbirds use learned vocalizations to communicate during courtship or aggressive behaviors. These vocalizations, called song, require fast coordination of laryngeal and respiratory muscles. Songbirds learn their song as juveniles through a long process comprising two sequential phases: the juvenile first listens to and memorizes one or more tutor songs and then uses auditory feedback to match its song to the memorized model through trial and error.
While song production is under the control of two cortical nuclei, HVC (used as a proper name) and the robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA,...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Andalman AS, Fee MS (2009) A basal ganglia-forebrain circuit in the songbird biases motor output to avoid vocal errors. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106:12518–12523
Brainard MS, Doupe AJ (2002) What songbirds teach us about learning. Nature 417:351–358
Doupe AJ, Solis MM (1997) Song- and order-selective neurons develop in the songbird anterior forebrain during vocal learning. J Neurobiol 33:694–709
Doupe AJ, Perkel DJ, Reiner A, Stern EA (2005) Birdbrains could teach basal ganglia research a new song. Trends Neurosci 28:353–363
Doya K, Sejnowski T (1995) A novel reinforcement model of birdsong vocalization learning. Adv Neural Inf Process Syst 7:101–108.
Doya K, Sejnowski TJ (1998) A computational model of birdsong learning by auditory experience and auditory feedback. In: Poon PWF, Brugge JF (eds) Central auditory processing and neural modeling. Plenum, New York, pp 77–88
Farries MA, Perkel DJ (2002) A telencephalic nucleus essential for song learning contains neurons with physiological characteristics of both striatum and globus pallidus. J Neurosci 22:3776–3787
Fee MS, Goldberg JH (2011) A hypothesis for basal ganglia-dependent reinforcement learning in the songbird. Neuroscience 198:152–170
Fiete IR, Fee MS, Seung HS (2007) Model of birdsong learning based on gradient estimation by dynamic perturbation of neural conductances. J Neurophysiol 98:2038–2057
Ganguli S, Hahnloser RHR (2013) Bird song learning without reinforcement: the Hebbian self-organization of sensorimotor circuits. Soc Neurosci Abstr 105.12/YY4
Kao MH, Doupe AJ, Brainard MS (2005) Contributions of an avian basal ganglia-forebrain circuit to real-time modulation of song. Nature 433:638–643
Leblois A, Bodor AL, Person AL, Perkel DJ (2009) Millisecond timescale disinhibition of thalamic neurons by relief of single spike basal ganglia GABAergic veto. J Neurosci 29:15420–15433
Leonardo A (2004) Experimental test of the birdsong error-correction model. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:16935–16940
Olveczky BP, Andalman AS, Fee MS (2005) Vocal experimentation in the juvenile songbird requires a basal ganglia circuit. PLoS Biol 3:e153
Prather JF, Peters S, Nowicki S, Mooney R (2008) Precise auditory-vocal mirroring in neurons for learned vocal communication. Nature 451:305–310
Reiner A, Medina L, Veenman CL (1998) Structural and functional evolution of the basal ganglia in vertebrates. Brain Res Brain Res Rev 28:235–285
Scharff C, Nottebohm F (1991) A comparative study of the behavioral deficits following lesions of various parts of the zebra finch song system: implications for vocal learning. J Neurosci 11:2896–2913
Troyer TW, Doupe AJ (2000) An associational model of birdsong sensorimotor learning I. Efference copy and the learning of song syllables. J Neurophysiol 84:1204–1223
Wickens JR, Reynolds JN, Hyland BI (2003) Neural mechanisms of reward-related motor learning. Curr Opin Neurobiol 13:685–690
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Leblois, A., Darshan, R. (2014). Basal Ganglia: Songbird Models. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_84-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_84-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences
Publish with us
Chapter history
-
Latest
Basal Ganglia: Songbird Models- Published:
- 02 September 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_84-2
-
Original
Basal Ganglia: Songbird Models- Published:
- 12 February 2014
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_84-1