Juveniles compare these sounds with the memorized template and achieve vocal imitation through a process of trial-and-error vocal. The subsong is similar to the babbling vocalization of human infants. At the early stage of sensorimotor learning, fledgling juvenile songbirds produce unstructured sounds. The sensorimotor learning follows, and animals start vocalizing, gradually matching their vocalization to the memorized template (Fig. Animals listen to and memorize conspecific adult vocalization as their template (Fig. First, sensory and sensorimotor learning is crucial for the development of both the birdsong and human speech. Human Speech and Birdsong Although birds and mammals diverged from a common ancestor approximately three hundred million years ago, birdsong broadly possesses three behavioral traits similar to that of human speech. (B, C) Examples of adult song patterns of two Bengalese finches (B) and two Java sparrows (C).

This stereotypy of crystallized song enables precise quantification of the similarities and differences in vocal development and song patterns between experiments, allowing for examination of genetic and epigenetic factors that contribute to the acquisition and maintenance of complex vocal patterns. The zebra finch is known as a closed-ended learner, meaning that once a stable species-specific song pattern вЂњmotifвЂќ is developed, the song structure remains unchanged throughout life. (A) Examples of song development in a zebra finch. Song learning and species differences in song pattern. Wada, Faculty of Science, Department of Biological Sciences, Hokkaido University, Room 910, Building No.5, North 10, West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan В©2015 Japanese Association for Laboratory Animal ScienceДЇig. (Received 4 February 2015 / Accepted 30 March 2015 / Published online in J-STAGE 24 April 2015) Address corresponding: C. We then provide an overview of the contribution of auditory input during vocal development and maintenance. First, we highlight the parallels between human speech and birdsong and introduce the neural mechanisms involved in vocal production and learning. Here we review vocal learning in songbirds, with particular focus on auditory input as a developmental epigenetic factor of vocal development. These features mean that studies of songbirds can provide excellent insights into the evolution, function, development, and mechanisms of vocal learning. Some species of birds such as the zebra finch and canary are easily bred under laboratory conditions. There are approximately 3,500 songbird species all over the world, and their birdsong shows a readily quantifiable species-specific variation, ideal to investigate theДevelopmental changes of acoustic and sequential song structure (Fig. The songbird is an attractive animal model for understanding the mechanisms underlying vocal learning because non-human primates and rodents have a limited ability to modify their vocalization. Although the vocalizations of most animal species constitute their innate behavior, some animal groups, such as mammals (humans, cetaceans, bats, elephants, and pinnipeds) and birds (oscine songbirds, parrots, and hummingbirds) develop a complex vocal pattern through vocal learning. Introduction Many animal species communicate by vocalization. Key words: auditory feedback, basal ganglia-cortical circuit, deafening, motor circuit, sensorimotor learning We will also discuss how studies of birdsong can help us understand how the development of neural circuits for vocal learning and production is driven by sensory input (auditory information) and motor output (vocalization). In this review, we will summarize the behavioral, neural, and genetic traits of birdsong. Songbirds are good animal models for understand the neural basis of vocal learning, a complex form of imitation, because they have many parallels to humans with regard to the features of vocal behavior and neural circuits dedicated to vocal learning. Vocal learning requires coordination of auditory input and vocal output using auditory feedback to guide oneвЂ™s own vocalizations during a specific developmental stage known as the critical period. School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Japan of Science, Department of Biological Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Room 910, Building No.5, North 10, West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, JapanДЄbstract: Like humans, songbirds are one of the few animal groups that learn vocalization. Songbird: a unique animal model for studying the molecular basis of disorders of vocal development and communication Chihiro Mori1) and Kazuhiro Wada1, 2) 1)Graduate

Review- Review Series: Frontiers of Model Animals for Neuroscience

Songbird animal