Kriengwatana Buddhamas Pralle
School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, UK.
Integr Zool. 2019 Mar;14(2):158-171. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12379.
Bird songs may advertise aspects of cognition because song learning and learning speed in cognitive tasks are both affected by early-life environments. However, such relationships remain ambiguous in the literature. Here, I discuss 2 lines of research that may help to demystify links between song learning and cognition. First, learning strategies should be considered when assessing performance to ensure that individual differences in learning ability are not masked by individual differences in learning strategies. Second, song characteristics should be associated with social behavior because songs have a social purpose and, consequently, should be strongly related at functional and neural levels. Finally, if song learning and cognitive abilities are correlated because they develop concurrently and/or share or compete for the same resources, I discuss ways glucocorticoids may link early-life stress, song learning and cognitive ability, focusing particularly on oxidative stress as a potential mechanism.
鸟鸣可能会揭示认知方面的信息，因为歌曲学习和认知任务中的学习速度都会受到早期生活环境的影响。然而，这类关系在文献中仍不明确。在此，我讨论两条有助于揭开歌曲学习与认知之间联系奥秘的研究思路。首先，在评估表现时应考虑学习策略，以确保学习能力的个体差异不会被学习策略的个体差异所掩盖。其次，歌曲特征应与社会行为相关联，因为歌曲具有社会目的，因此在功能和神经层面应紧密相关。最后，如果歌曲学习与认知能力相关是因为它们同时发展和/或共享或竞争相同资源，我将讨论糖皮质激素可能如何将早期生活压力、歌曲学习和认知能力联系起来，尤其关注氧化应激作为一种潜在机制。
