RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Goal-directed vocal planning in a songbird
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.09.27.509747
DO 10.1101/2022.09.27.509747
A1 Anja T. Zai
A1 Anna E. Stepien
A1 Nicolas Giret
A1 Richard H.R. Hahnloser
YR 2023
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/05/26/2022.09.27.509747.abstract
AB Songbirds’ vocal mastery is impressive, but to what extent is it a result of practice? Can they, similar to humans, plan targeted changes to their songs in a practice-free manner without intermittently singing? In adult zebra finches, we drive the pitch of a song syllable away from its stable (baseline) variant acquired from a tutor, then we withdraw reinforcement and subsequently deprive them of song experience by muting or deafening. In this deprived state, birds do not recover their baseline song. However, they revert their songs towards the target by about one standard deviation of their recent practice, provided the latter signaled a pitch mismatch with the target. Thus, targeted vocal plasticity does not require immediate sensory experience, showing that zebra finches are capable of goal-directed vocal planning.Significance statement Zebra finches are capable of making target-directed changes to their songs without requiring sensory feedback.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.