Adult birdsong is actively maintained by error correction Export

@article{citeulike:4923811, abstract = {Humans learn to speak by a process of vocal imitation that requires the availability of auditory feedback. Similarly, young birds rely on auditory feedback when learning to imitate the songs of adult birds, providing one of the few examples of nonhuman vocal learning. However, although humans continue to use auditory feedback to correct vocal errors in adulthood, the mechanisms underlying the stability of adult birdsong are unknown. We found that, similar to human speech, adult birdsong is maintained by error correction. We perturbed the pitch (fundamental frequency) of auditory feedback in adult Bengalese finches using custom-designed headphones. Birds compensated for the imposed auditory error by adjusting the pitch of song. When the perturbation was removed, pitch returned to baseline. Our results indicate that adult birds correct vocal errors by comparing auditory feedback to a sensory target and suggest that lifelong error correction is a general principle of learned vocal behavior.}, author = {Sober, Samuel J. and Brainard, Michael S.}, citeulike-article-id = {4923811}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn.2336}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn.2336}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19525945}, citeulike-linkout-3 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=19525945}, day = {14}, doi = {10.1038/nn.2336}, issn = {1546-1726}, journal = {Nat Neurosci}, keywords = {abby}, month = {July}, number = {7}, pages = {927--931}, posted-at = {2009-06-22 15:33:22}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Nature Publishing Group}, title = {Adult birdsong is actively maintained by error correction}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn.2336}, volume = {12}, year = {2009} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:4923811 L3 - citeulike-article-id:4923811 N2 - Humans learn to speak by a process of vocal imitation that requires the availability of auditory feedback. Similarly, young birds rely on auditory feedback when learning to imitate the songs of adult birds, providing one of the few examples of nonhuman vocal learning. However, although humans continue to use auditory feedback to correct vocal errors in adulthood, the mechanisms underlying the stability of adult birdsong are unknown. We found that, similar to human speech, adult birdsong is maintained by error correction. We perturbed the pitch (fundamental frequency) of auditory feedback in adult Bengalese finches using custom-designed headphones. Birds compensated for the imposed auditory error by adjusting the pitch of song. When the perturbation was removed, pitch returned to baseline. Our results indicate that adult birds correct vocal errors by comparing auditory feedback to a sensory target and suggest that lifelong error correction is a general principle of learned vocal behavior. IS - 7 JF - Nat Neurosci SN - 1546-1726 EP - 931 TI - Adult birdsong is actively maintained by error correction PB - Nature Publishing Group VL - 12 SP - 927 KW - abby AU - Sober, Samuel AU - Brainard, Michael PY - 2009/07/14/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn.2336 ER -