Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior

Striatal Dopamine at Learned Sequence Boundaries Sustains Birdsong

The paper shows that dopamine transients at song motif onset are needed to maintain accurate adult zebra finch song, a naturally learned skilled behavior.

Song sparrows fail to discriminate between current and historical songs

The study finds that song sparrows do not distinguish between current and historical songs despite detectable changes in song structure over 27-29 years.

Shared Neuroanatomy, Separate Mechanism: in vivo ERK and mTOR Manipulations Reveal Female-Specific Molecular Signaling for Auditory Forebrain-Dependent Learning in Juveniles

The paper tests the causal role of the auditory forebrain and ERK/mTOR signaling in female sensory song learning in zebra finches, finding mTOR signaling is sex-specific.

Comprehension precedes production of a complex call sequence

This study shows that Western Australian magpies comprehend complex call sequences before they can produce them, suggesting rapid learning or innate understanding of sequence meaning.

Innate building blocks underly socially learned call sequences

The paper investigates whether vocal building blocks in magpies are innate or learned, finding no acoustic development over time and supporting innate elements underpinning call sequences.

Communication networks of wild zebra finches (Taeniopygia castanotis)

The paper quantifies communication networks in wild zebra finches using song recordings and deep learning, revealing higher activity at social hotspots and dynamic, non-nested networks.

Acoustic detection of a rarely vocalising invasive mammal from sparse data

The paper develops a lightweight acoustic classifier for detecting rare vocalisations of the invasive small Indian mongoose using sparse data, but finds limited utility due to small training datasets.

Real-Time Segmentation and Classification of Birdsong Syllables for Learning Experiments

This paper introduces Moove, a real-time system for segmenting and classifying Bengalese finch syllables, enabling effective operant conditioning experiments.

Socially learned call sequences reveal gradual development of higher-order structure

The paper shows Western Australian magpies use multi-level structured ordering rules in their call sequences, indicating learned syntactic structure.

Context-dependent vocal behavior in a glass frog

The paper examines context-dependent vocal behavior in Emerald glass frogs, finding that males adjust call characteristics based on social context.

Measurement and comparison of acoustic space use in vocalizations of humans and close primate relatives

The paper compares acoustic space use in human and primate vocalizations, finding speech and song occupy less acoustic space than non-linguistic human vocalizations and are not distinct from non-human primates.

A synthesis of the evidence for the acoustic space partitioning hypothesis

The paper reviews evidence for the acoustic space partitioning hypothesis, finding strong support but highlighting methodological gaps and alternative explanations for signal differentiation.

Volubility and vocal coordination under information asymmetry in captive common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

The paper examines volubility and vocal coordination in common marmosets under different experimental conditions, finding call-type-specific patterns of vocal contagion and recruitment.

Tuning into the city soundscape: Optimizing Convolutional Neural Networks for avian acoustic identification in the neotropics and evaluating their performance against established monitoring approaches.

This study optimizes CNNs for bird identification in urban tropical ecosystems and compares their performance to traditional methods, finding higher species richness estimates from CNNs.

Emergence of social recognition in auditory and integrative circuits during pair bonding

The paper investigates how pair bonding in songbirds alters neural responses to familiar songs in specific auditory and integrative circuits, with a potential role for dopamine.

Song evolution in light of ecosystem differences: exploring effects of urbanization and ecology on temporal and frequency traits of Spotted and Eastern towhee songs

This study examines how urbanization and ecological factors influence song frequency traits in Spotted and Eastern towhees using geographic and environmental data.

Turn-taking-like temporal coordination of ultrasonic vocalizations during close-range social interactions in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus)

This study shows that Mongolian gerbils coordinate their ultrasonic vocalizations with their partners' vocal timing, exhibiting turn-taking behavior and reduced overlap.

Birdsong modification with food reward

This study shows that Bengalese finches can learn to modify their songs by associating food rewards with auditory cues during singing.

Quantifying the vocal repertoire of adult common terns (Sterna hirundo )

This study quantifies the vocal repertoire of adult common terns by analyzing acoustic data from a breeding colony, identifying distinct call types and their acoustic parameters.

Neurons in the bat auditory cortex encode class and complexity of future vocalizations

The paper shows neurons in bat auditory cortex encode vocalization class and temporal complexity before vocal onset.

Response to geographic variation in song is associated with differential gene expression in the blood of a songbird

The paper examines gene expression changes in song sparrows exposed to local vs. foreign songs, finding differential expression in genes related to song perception, anti-inflammatory responses, and energy metabolism.

A comparison of BirdNET, expert listening and acoustic indices to monitor avian diversity in a Mediterranean agricultural landscape

The paper compares BirdNET, expert listening, and acoustic indices for monitoring avian diversity in an agricultural landscape, finding BirdNET detects more species but with potential reliability issues.

Dual pathway architecture in songbirds enables robust sensorimotor learning

This paper presents a computational model of songbird vocal learning that uses a dual pathway architecture to achieve robust sensorimotor learning and outperforms standard reinforcement learning approaches.

Song complexity in suboscine birds: evolutionary drivers and ecological constraints

This study uses Bayesian phylogenetic models to analyze song complexity in suboscine birds, finding that sexual selection reduces complexity while territoriality increases it, challenging the dominance of sexual selection as the primary driver.

Emotional valence of conspecific vocalizations modulates auditory and limbic brain activity in juvenile pigs

This study shows that juvenile pigs process emotionally valenced vocalizations differently, activating distinct brain regions related to emotion and reward.

Macroscale traveling waves link perception, response selection, and vocal production during marmoset vocal interactions

The paper investigates macro-scale cortical dynamics during marmoset vocal interactions, identifying traveling waves that integrate perception, response selection, and vocal production.

Syllable repetition reveals links between distant phrases in birdsong

The paper shows that repeat numbers of distant phrases in Bengalese finch songs are correlated, suggesting a joint factor controls nonadjacent phrases, challenging existing Markov chain models of song syntax.

A synaptic locus of song learning

This study identifies specific cortico-basal ganglia synapses critical for rapid vocal learning in juvenile zebra finches and characterizes the timescale of consolidation.

Species diversity increases information flow about predation in bird communities

The paper shows that higher bird species diversity increases public information about predation through mobbing and alarm calls, enhancing the quantity and quality of interspecific information flow.

Striatal FOXP2 is essential for stable vocal production in non-human primates

This study shows that knocking down FOXP2 in the striatum of marmoset monkeys disrupts vocalization stability, revealing a role for FOXP2 in primate vocal production.