This research focuses on the motor control of vocal communication in songbirds. Adult songbirds arguably provide one of the best animal models in which to study the neural control of relatively complex behavior patterns underlying vocal communication. Birdsong shares with human speech certain properties which make it an especially promising behavior from which to gain significant insights into basic issues related to the neural control of behavior. These issues include the nature and functional importance of the central lateralization of vocal communication, which is present in humans and in many songbirds; the manner in which the motor commands for specific vocal gestures are represented or mapped in the central nervous system; the motor integration of activity in diverse muscle groups (e.g., respiratory and vocal organ) having different primary functions; and the possibility of special phonetic processing for the production of vocal communication. Using techniques developed to record the motor action and respiratory dynamics in spontaneous singing birds, experiments will investigate the motor control of vocal gestures and the extent to which they are produced by fixed stereotyped motor patterns within and between individuals and species. The interactions between respiratory and vocal muscles and their specific roles in song production will be examined. An avian equivalent of the motor theory of speech perception will be experimentally tested. The organization of central efferent connections to various syringeal muscles will be mapped and an investigation of the neural control of syringeal motor action will be initiated.
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