Research Article

The development of stimulus-specific auditory responses requires song exposure in male but not female zebra finches

  1. Kristen K. Maul1,†,*,
  2. Henning U. Voss2,†,
  3. Lucas C. Parra3,
  4. Delanthi Salgado-Commissariat4,
  5. Douglas Ballon2,
  6. Ofer Tchernichovski1,
  7. Santosh A. Helekar5

Article first published online: 23 NOV 2009

DOI: 10.1002/dneu.20751

Issue

Developmental Neurobiology

Developmental Neurobiology

Volume 70, Issue 1, pages 28–40, January 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

Maul, K. K., Voss, H. U., Parra, L. C., Salgado-Commissariat, D., Ballon, D., Tchernichovski, O. and Helekar, S. A. (2010), The development of stimulus-specific auditory responses requires song exposure in male but not female zebra finches. Developmental Neurobiology, 70: 28–40. doi: 10.1002/dneu.20751

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Biology, The City College of New York, City University of New York, New York

  2. 2

    Department of Radiology and Citigroup Biomedical Imaging Center, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York

  3. 3

    Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York, City University of New York, New York

  4. 4

    The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Houston, Texas

  5. 5

    Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

  1. †

    Kristen K. Maul and Henning U. Voss contributed equally to this study.

*Department of Biology, The City College of New York, City University of New York, New York

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 10 DEC 2009
  2. Article first published online: 23 NOV 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 14 AUG 2009
  4. Manuscript Revised: 12 AUG 2009
  5. Manuscript Received: 4 JUN 2009

Funded by

  • NIH
  • IBIS
  • CCNY (RCMI Grant)

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Keywords:

  • song learning;
  • auditory forebrain;
  • sensory;
  • auditory responses;
  • sensitive period

Abstract

Juvenile male zebra finches develop their song by imitation. Females do not sing but are attracted to males' songs. With functional magnetic resonance imaging and event-related potentials we tested how early auditory experience shapes responses in the auditory forebrain of the adult bird. Adult male birds kept in isolation over the sensitive period for song learning showed no consistency in auditory responses to conspecific songs, calls, and syllables. Thirty seconds of song playback each day over development, which is sufficient to induce song imitation, was also sufficient to shape stimulus-specific responses. Strikingly, adult females kept in isolation over development showed responses similar to those of males that were exposed to songs. We suggest that early auditory experience with songs may be required to tune perception toward conspecific songs in males, whereas in females song selectivity develops even without prior exposure to song. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 2010

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