Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Dual pathway architecture underlying vocal learning in songbirds

View ORCID ProfileRemya Sankar, View ORCID ProfileArthur Leblois, View ORCID ProfileNicolas P. Rougier
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.02.486814
Remya Sankar
1Inria Bordeaux Sud-Ouest, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, IMN, LaBRI, Université de Bordeaux, Talence, France,
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Remya Sankar
  • For correspondence: remya.sankar@inria.fr remya.sankar@inria.fr
Arthur Leblois
2Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, IMN, UMR 5293, F-33000, Bordeaux, France,
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Arthur Leblois
  • For correspondence: arthur.leblois@u-bordeaux.fr
Nicolas P. Rougier
3Inria Bordeaux Sud-Ouest, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, IMN, LaBRI, Université de Bordeaux, Talence, France,
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Nicolas P. Rougier
  • For correspondence: nicolas.rougier@inria.fr
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Data/Code
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Song acquisition and production in songbirds is governed by a dedicated neural circuitry that involves two parallel pathways: a motor pathway for the production and a basal ganglia (BG) pathway for the acquisition. Juveniles learn by imitating adult vocalizations and proceed by trial and error, errors being conveyed by a dopaminergic signal. The complex nature of the relationship between neural control and syrinx musculature makes song learning a complicated problem to solve. Reinforcement learning (RL) has been widely hypothesized to underlie such sensorimotor learning even though this can lead to sub-optimal solutions under uneven contours in continuous action spaces. In this article, we propose to re-interpret the role of a dual pathway architecture, underlying avian vocal learning, that helps overcome these limitations. We posit that the BG pathway conducts exploration by inducing large daily shifts in the vocal production while the motor pathway gradually consolidates this exploration. This process can be understood as a modified form of a simulated annealing process. Simulations on Gaussian performance landscapes and a syrinx-based performance landscape are demonstrated and compared with standard approaches. Taking behavioral constraints into account (60 days of learning, 1000 trials per day), the model allows to reach the global optimum in complex landscapes and thus provides a sound insight into the role of the dual pathway architecture underlying vocal learning.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • This work was partially funded by grant ANR-17-CE24-0036 and ANR-16-CE37-0020-01.

  • https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6407128

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted April 03, 2022.
Download PDF
Data/Code
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Dual pathway architecture underlying vocal learning in songbirds
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Dual pathway architecture underlying vocal learning in songbirds
Remya Sankar, Arthur Leblois, Nicolas P. Rougier
bioRxiv 2022.04.02.486814; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.02.486814
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Dual pathway architecture underlying vocal learning in songbirds
Remya Sankar, Arthur Leblois, Nicolas P. Rougier
bioRxiv 2022.04.02.486814; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.02.486814

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Neuroscience
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3606)
  • Biochemistry (7575)
  • Bioengineering (5529)
  • Bioinformatics (20808)
  • Biophysics (10333)
  • Cancer Biology (7986)
  • Cell Biology (11644)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6610)
  • Ecology (10214)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13624)
  • Genetics (9543)
  • Genomics (12851)
  • Immunology (7923)
  • Microbiology (19552)
  • Molecular Biology (7667)
  • Neuroscience (42127)
  • Paleontology (308)
  • Pathology (1258)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2203)
  • Physiology (3268)
  • Plant Biology (7044)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1294)
  • Synthetic Biology (1951)
  • Systems Biology (5427)
  • Zoology (1118)