Nature 417, 351 - 358 (2002)
What songbirds teach us about learning
MICHAEL S. BRAINARD AND ALLISON J. DOUPE
W. M. Keck Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Departments of Physiology
and Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA
(e-mail:
Bird fanciers have known for centuries that songbirds learn their songs.
This learning has striking parallels to speech acquisition: like humans,
birds must hear the sounds of adults during a sensitive period, and must
hear their own voice while learning to vocalize. With the discovery and
investigation of discrete brain structures required for singing, songbirds
are now providing insights into neural mechanisms of learning. Aided by a
wealth of behavioural observations and species diversity, studies in
songbirds are addressing such basic issues in neuroscience as perceptual
and sensorimotor learning, developmental regulation of plasticity, and the
control and function of adult neurogenesis.
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v417/n6886/abs/417351a_fs.html
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