A neuronal signature of accurate imitative learning in wild-caught songbirds (swamp sparrows, Melospiza georgiana).

ABSTRACT: In humans and other animals, behavioural variation in learning has been associated with variation in neural features like morphology and myelination. By contrast, it is essentially unknown whether cognitive performance scales with electrophysiological properties of individual neurons. Birdsong learning offers a rich system to investigate this topic as song acquisition is similar to human language learning. Here, we address the interface between behavioural learning and neurophysiology in a cohort of wild-caught, hand-reared songbirds (swamp sparrows, Melospiza georgiana). We report the discovery in the forebrain HVC of sensorimotor 'bridge' neurons that simultaneously and selectively represent two critical learning-related schemas: the bird's own song, and the specific tutor model from whi

SUBMITTER: Moseley DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5725582 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature