Zebrafinch Song Learning

Zebra Finch Song Learning

Like other songbirds, young male zebra finches develop a unique song that depends on exposure to the song of an adult tutor during a sensitive period. Song learning is mediated by a specialized set of neural structures, and it requires extensive vocal practice and auditory feedback. We study the dynamics of this process as part of a consortium of researchers at four different institutions.

This collaborative approach toward understanding the neural mechanisms of vocal learning seeks to provide a quantitative description of the relationship between physiological variables and vocal performance in the zebra finch over the course of song development. The goals of the Mitra lab within the consortium are to provide an informatics infrastructure, to build an integrative theoretical framework, and to develop signal processing algorithms for data integration and hypothesis discovery and testing.

More information can be obtained from the Zebrafinch project website.

Contributors:

Partha Mitra
Haibin Wang
Ofer Tchernikovski (City College of New York)