Vocal communication is a highly developed trait in humans, providing a core mode of human social interaction. Disorders of vocal communication in humans therefore represent a significant public health challenge. Fortunately, vocal communication is not uniquely human, and can be studied experimentally in songbirds and rodents. Birdsong has no equal as an animal model of human language acquisition because, like human infants, fledgling songbirds learn their vocalizations by imitating the vocal sounds of their adult care-givers. By comparison, rodent models provide a means to study the perception of vocal sounds in relative isolation from the mechanisms of vocal-motor learning. Rodent models also bring the significant advantage of powerful tools for perturbing the brain at the genetic, molecular, and systems level. However, to maximize the potential benefit to human health it is important to begin to integrate findings across species in order to identify the most deeply conserved mechanisms, as these are the mechanisms most likely to be shared with humans. Our proposed conference titled 'NEURAL AND GENETIC BASIS OF VOCAL COMMUNICATION'is a direct response to interest stated by several Directors of NIH Institutes to facilitate dialog and engagement between researchers who study birdsong and mammalian models of vocal communication. The goal of our conference will be to identify the general principles of neural and genetic organization that support vocal communication across songbirds, mammals, and humans, bringing into focus the avenues of future investigation that will produce the greatest positive impact on human health.
Vocal communication is at the core of the human experience and understanding and treating human speech-language pathologies remains a significant public health challenge. Fortunately, vocal communication is not unique to humans and this challenge has been addressed in part by experimental studies of vocal communication in songbirds and rodents. However, to maximize human benefit it is important to begin to integrate findings across species in order to identify the most deeply conserved mechanisms, as these are the mechanisms most likely to be shared with humans. A conference is proposed (NEURAL AND GENETIC BASIS OF VOCAL COMMUNICATION) that will identify conserved neural and genetic mechanisms for vocal communication in songbirds, rodents, and humans, bringing into focus the avenues of future investigation that will produce the greatest positive impact on human health.
