Flash evoked responses in a song control nucleus of the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata castanotis).

The song of the zebra finch is facilitated and altered by the presence of a female. Thus, visual information should affect the song system of the bird. Visually evoked potentials can be recorded from n. hyperstriatum ventrale pars caudale (HVc). The long latency of this potential and its variability indicate several processing steps between primary sensory areas of the telencephalon and HVC. Within HVc, under these experimental conditions no interaction between acoustic and visual input could be demonstrated. However, at the dorsal border and within the shelf below HVc, visual information seems to enhance acoustically evoked potentials.