FoxP2 regulation during undirected singing in adult songbirds.

ABSTRACT: Learned vocal communication, including human speech, is a socially influenced behavior limited to certain animals. This ability requires auditory feedback during vocalization, which allows for on-line evaluation, to achieve the desired vocal output. To date, FOXP2 (forkhead box P2), a transcriptional repressor, is the only molecule directly linked to human speech. Identified FOXP2 mutations cause orofacial dyspraxia accompanied by abnormalities in corticostriatal circuitry controlling voluntary orofacial movements. These observations implicate FOXP2 in the developmental formation of neural circuits used in speech, but whether FOXP2 additionally plays an active role in mature circuitry was unknown. To address this question, we use a songbird, the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), whose lea

SUBMITTER: Teramitsu I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2683919 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature