(September 17, 2012) By studying how birds master songs used in
courtship, scientists at Duke University have found that regions of the brain
involved in planning and controlling complex vocal sequences may also be necessary
for memorizing sounds that serve as models for vocal imitation.
In a paper appearing in the
September 2012 issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience, researchers at Duke
and Harvard universities observed the imitative vocal learning habits of male
zebra finches to pinpoint which circuits in the birds’ brains are necessary for
learning their songs.
Knowing which brain circuits are
involved in learning by imitation could have broader implications for
diagnosing and treating human developmental disorders, the researchers said.
The finding shows that the same circuitry used for vocal control also
participates in auditory learning, raising the possibility that vocal circuits
in our own brain also help encode auditory experience important to speech and
language learning.