Our long-term goal is to understand the neural mechanisms underlying complex sound recognition, the formation of perceptual acoustical memories and the role of these memories in guiding vocal learning. In order to achieve our goal, we are studying neural processing in the auditory midbrain and forebrain of songbirds in the context of their song learning behavior. Songbirds learn to produce their complex songs by comparing the auditory feedback from their own vocalizations with a memorized version of a tutor's song. This memory based vocal learning is reminiscent of some aspects of speech learning in humans and very rare in non-avian animals. We have shown that auditory neurons in the forebrain of songbirds are on average more responsive to the songs produced by the species than to matched synthetic sounds. We will obtain the stimulus-response function of auditory neurons at different stages of the auditory processing stream to understand how this auditory selectivity is generated in the auditory system. In particular, we will estimate the spectro-temporal receptive fields of auditory neurons and compare them to the spectro- temporal amplitude modulations found in song and in other natural sounds. We will also investigate the effect of early sensory experience on this acoustical processing. We will then investigate the connections between the auditory system and the vocal system responsible for song production and learning in male songbirds. We will also compare the auditory system of male songbirds with that of female songbirds. It is known that the song system is sexually dimorphic in songbirds and we will investigate the extent to which this sexual dimorphism affects the perceptual system. Our results will provide insights into the mechanisms underlying complex sound recognition and production in humans, in particular as they relate to speech comprehension and learning. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
2R01MH059189-06A2
Application #
6980431
Study Section
Sensorimotor Integration Study Section (SMI)
Program Officer
Glanzman, Dennis L
Project Start
1999-01-01
Project End
2009-04-30
Budget Start
2005-07-01
Budget End
2006-04-30
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
2005
Total Cost
$259,170
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Berkeley
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
124726725
City
Berkeley
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94704
Amin, Noopur; Gill, Patrick; Theunissen, Frédéric E (2010) Role of the zebra finch auditory thalamus in generating complex representations for natural sounds. J Neurophysiol 104:784-98
Woolley, Sarah M N; Hauber, Mark E; Theunissen, Frederic E (2010) Developmental experience alters information coding in auditory midbrain and forebrain neurons. Dev Neurobiol 70:235-52
Woolley, Sarah M N; Gill, Patrick R; Fremouw, Thane et al. (2009) Functional groups in the avian auditory system. J Neurosci 29:2780-93
Gill, Patrick; Woolley, Sarah M N; Fremouw, Thane et al. (2008) What's that sound? Auditory area CLM encodes stimulus surprise, not intensity or intensity changes. J Neurophysiol 99:2809-20
Boumans, Tiny; Theunissen, Frederic E; Poirier, Colline et al. (2007) Neural representation of spectral and temporal features of song in the auditory forebrain of zebra finches as revealed by functional MRI. Eur J Neurosci 26:2613-26
Amin, Noopur; Doupe, Allison; Theunissen, Frederic E (2007) Development of selectivity for natural sounds in the songbird auditory forebrain. J Neurophysiol 97:3517-31
Woolley, Sarah M N; Gill, Patrick R; Theunissen, Frederic E (2006) Stimulus-dependent auditory tuning results in synchronous population coding of vocalizations in the songbird midbrain. J Neurosci 26:2499-512
Theunissen, Frederic E; Shaevitz, Sarita S (2006) Auditory processing of vocal sounds in birds. Curr Opin Neurobiol 16:400-7
Hsu, Anne; Borst, Alexander; Theunissen, Frederic E (2004) Quantifying variability in neural responses and its application for the validation of model predictions. Network 15:91-109
Kimpo, Rhea R; Theunissen, Frederic E; Doupe, Allison J (2003) Propagation of correlated activity through multiple stages of a neural circuit. J Neurosci 23:5750-61

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