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Song Motor control organizes acoustic patterns on two levels in Bengalese finches (Lonchura striata var. domestica)

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Abstract

Based on statistical analyses of song sequences, Bengalese finch (Lonchura striata var. domestica) songs do not show unvarying motif repetition as has been found in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Instead, there are variations of partially stereotyped sequences of song syllables. Although these stereotyped sequences consist of multiple syllables, in most cases these syllables occur together. To examine whether such structures really exist as a vocal production unit, we subjected singing birds to a light flash and determined when the stimulus stopped the songs. When light interruptions were presented within the statistically stereotyped sequences, the subsequent syllables tended to be produced, whereas interruptions presented during the statistically variable sequences tended to cause instantaneous song termination. This suggests that the associations among the song syllables that compose the statistically stereotyped sequences are more order dependent than those for the statistically variable sequences, and the tolerances of syllable pairs to visual interruptions are consistent with the statistical song structures. Additionally, following interruptions, several types of song sequence variations were observed that had not been previously reported. These phenomena might be caused by various effects of the visual stimulus on the hierarchical motor control program.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Satoru Teramoto and Koji Nakamura for their help with the pilot studies of this experiment, we thank N. Kutsukake, S.Yoshida, M. Soma for valuable suggestions. Part of this study was supported by PREST, JST to KO. This experiment was approved by the RIKEN Animal Experiments Committee.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Science and Technology, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan

    Yoshimasa Seki

  2. Laboratory for Biolinguistics, RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI), 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan

    Yoshimasa Seki, Kenta Suzuki, Miki Takahasi & Kazuo Okanoya

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  1. Yoshimasa Seki
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  2. Kenta Suzuki
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  3. Miki Takahasi
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  4. Kazuo Okanoya
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Correspondence to Kazuo Okanoya.

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Seki, Y., Suzuki, K., Takahasi, M. et al. Song Motor control organizes acoustic patterns on two levels in Bengalese finches (Lonchura striata var. domestica). J Comp Physiol A 194, 533–543 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-008-0328-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-008-0328-0

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