Ter Maat Andries, Trost Lisa, Sagunsky Hannes, Seltmann Susanne, Gahr Manfred
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, Seewiesen, Germany.
PLoS One. 2014 Oct 14;9(10):e109334. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109334. eCollection 2014.
Unlearned calls are produced by all birds whereas learned songs are only found in three avian taxa, most notably in songbirds. The neural basis for song learning and production is formed by interconnected song nuclei: the song control system. In addition to song, zebra finches produce large numbers of soft, unlearned calls, among which "stack" calls are uttered frequently. To determine unequivocally the calls produced by each member of a group, we mounted miniature wireless microphones on each zebra finch. We find that group living paired males and females communicate using bilateral stack calling. To investigate the role of the song control system in call-based male female communication, we recorded the electrical activity in a premotor nucleus of the song control system in freely behaving male birds. The unique combination of acoustic monitoring together with wireless brain recording of individual zebra finches in groups shows that the neuronal activity of the song system correlates with the production of unlearned stack calls. The results suggest that the song system evolved from a brain circuit controlling simple unlearned calls to a system capable of producing acoustically rich, learned vocalizations.
所有鸟类都会发出非习得性叫声，而习得性歌声仅在三个鸟类类群中出现，最显著的是鸣禽。歌曲学习和产生的神经基础由相互连接的鸣曲核形成：歌曲控制系统。除了歌声，斑胸草雀还会发出大量轻柔的、非习得性叫声，其中“堆叠”叫声频繁发出。为了明确确定群体中每个成员发出的叫声，我们在每只斑胸草雀身上安装了微型无线麦克风。我们发现群居的配对雄性和雌性通过双侧堆叠叫声进行交流。为了研究歌曲控制系统在基于叫声的雌雄交流中的作用，我们记录了自由活动的雄性鸟类歌曲控制系统的一个运动前核中的电活动。对群体中单个斑胸草雀进行声学监测并结合无线脑部记录的独特组合表明，歌曲系统的神经元活动与非习得性堆叠叫声的产生相关。结果表明，歌曲系统从控制简单非习得性叫声的脑回路进化为能够产生声学丰富的、习得性发声的系统。
