Song replay during sleep and computational rules for sensorimotor vocal learning

Songbirds learn a correspondence between vocal-motor output and auditory feedback during development. For neurons in a motor cortex analog of adult zebra finches, we show that the timing and structure of activity elicited by the playback of song during sleep matches activity during daytime singing. The motor activity leads syllables, and the matching sensory response depends on a sequence of typically up to three of the preceding syllables. Thus, sensorimotor correspondence is reflected in temporally precise activity patterns of single neurons that use long sensory memories to predict syllable sequences. Additionally, "spontaneous" activity of these neurons during sleep matches their sensorimotor activity, a form of song "replay." These data suggest a model whereby sensorimotor correspondences are stored during singing but do not modify behavior, and off-line comparison (e.g., during sleep) of rehearsed motor output and predicted sensory feedback is used to adaptively shape motor output.     

Pineal function: the biological clock in the sparrow?

The pineal organ of the house sparrow, Passer domesticus, is essential for persistence of the circadian locomotor rhythm in constant conditions. Upon removal of the pineal body, activity becomes arrhythmic. However, pinealectomy does not abolish the rhythm of locomotor activity in birds exposed to light-dark cycles. Pinealectomized birds are entrained by light cycles in much the same manner as are normal birds. Our data demonstrate that the pineal organ is a crucial component of the endogenous time-measuring system of the sparrow.     

Molecular genetic relationships of the extinct dusky seaside sparrow

Mitochondrial DNA from the extinct dusky seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus nigrescens) was compared in terms of nucleotide sequence divergence to mitochondrial DNAs from extant populations of seaside sparrows. Analyses of restriction sites revealed a close phylogenetic affinity of A. m. nigrescens to other sparrow populations along the Atlantic coast of the United States but considerable genetic distance from Gulf coast birds. Concerns and applied management strategies for the seaside sparrow have been based on a morphological taxonomy that does not adequately reflect evolutionary relationships within the complex.     

Control of vocal responding in chickens

Schedules of reinforcement were shown to control the rate of chirping bychickens in the same way as other motor responses in subhumans. Under a discrimination procedure, chickens responded selectively to the visual stimulus associated with food reinforcement for chirping. Control experiments demonstrated that food influenced the rate of responding because it was presented dependent on the chick's vocalizing and not because it had an innate eliciting or "emotionalizing" power.     

Dieldrin and DDT: effects on sparrow hawk eggshells and reproduction

Patterns of reproductive failure in declining populations of several European and North American raptorial species were duplicated experimentally with captive American sparrow hawks Falco sparvcrius that were given a diet containing two commonly used organochlorine insecticides. Major effects on reproduction were increased egg disappearance, increased egg destruction by parent birds, and reduced eggshell thickness.     

Improved learning in a large-enrollment physics class

We compared the amounts of learning achieved using two different instructional approaches under controlled conditions. We measured the learning of a specific set of topics and objectives when taught by 3 hours of traditional lecture given by an experienced highly rated instructor and 3 hours of instruction given by a trained but inexperienced instructor using instruction based on research in cognitive psychology and physics education. The comparison was made between two large sections (N = 267 and N = 271) of an introductory undergraduate physics course. We found increased student attendance, higher engagement, and more than twice the learning in the section taught using research-based instruction.     

Selective phagocytosis: a new concept in protein catabolism

The clearance of different metabolic products derived from two plasma proteins, prothrombin and fibrinogen, was studied with the aid of the isolated, perfused rat liver. Active thrombin and fibrin were rapidly cleared by the Kupffer cells. Inactive thrombin and a partially degraded fibrin molecule were also cleared but at much slower rates. This difference in clearance rates suggests the presence of a high degree of selectivity in the clearance of altered plasma proteins.     

Auditory responses in avian vocal motor neurons: a motor theory for song perception in birds

The hypoglossal motor neurons that innervate the vocal organ (syrinx) of the male zebra finch show a selective, long-latency (50-millisecond) response to sound. This response is eliminated by lesions to forebrain song-control nuclei. Different song syllables elicit a response from different syringeal motor neurons. Conspecific vocalizations may therefore be perceived as members of a set of vocal gestures and thus distinct from other environmental sounds. This hypothesis is an avian parallel to the motor theory of speech perception in humans.     

谈声乐艺术中的心理调控教学

心理调节和控制能力的培养在声乐演唱艺术中是非常重要的,在声乐教学中也是非常关键的一个环节。对声乐教学中心理调控功能的探讨,是声乐教学理论研究领域中的一个基本问题,具有重要的理论意义和实践意义。论述了如何理解声乐表演中的心理调控,并针对如何开展声乐艺术中的心理调控教学提出了一些具体可行的办法,以便达到良好的声乐教学效果。     

食物组分差异对树麻雀能量代谢及消化道形态结构的影响

为探寻食物组分差异对小型鸟类生理生化指标和消化道的影响,了解小型鸟类如何通过自我调节以应对不良环境条件变化的生存策略。将树麻雀Passer montanus按体质量随机分为对照组（饲喂小米Setaria italica）,稗草籽组（饲喂稗草Echinochloa crusgalli籽）,黄粉虫组（饲喂黄粉虫Tenebrio molitor）,8只·组-1,进行驯化,4周后通过烘干恒质量法、索氏抽提法、硫酸-蒽酮法、石蜡切片法等方法,测定其基础代谢率（basal metabolic rate,BMR）、体质量、器官鲜质量和干质量、体脂质量分数、糖原质量分数和消化道长度,消化道绒毛高度、宽度、黏膜层厚度及肠壁截面积等指标的变化。结果表明:饲喂4周后,3组树麻雀基础代谢率与第1周相比分别增加0.14,0.35和0.11 mL·g-1·h-1,稗草籽组与对照组和黄粉虫组差异显著（P < 0.05）,对照组与黄粉虫组差异不显著（P > 0.05）;体质量组间差异均极显著（P < 0.01）;黄粉虫组大肠、小肠、十二指肠、直肠、肌胃的鲜质量极显著高于稗草籽组和对照组（P < 0.01）,黄粉虫组十二指肠、肌胃的干质量极显著高于稗草籽组和对照组（P < 0.01）,对照组大肠、直肠的干质量极显著高于稗草籽组和黄粉虫组（P < 0.01）;稗草籽组和黄粉虫组的消化能、消化率与对照组间的差异极显著（P < 0.01）;3组树麻雀大肠、小肠、十二指肠长度组间差异均极显著（P < 0.01）,稗草籽组、黄粉虫组大肠绒毛高度与对照组间的差异均极显著（P < 0.01）,对照组、稗草籽组的小肠和十二指肠绒毛高度、黏膜层厚度与黄粉虫组间的差异均极显著（P < 0.01）。表明食物组分差异是影响树麻雀能量代谢和消化道形态改变的重要环境因子之一。     

Selective loss of a family of gene transcripts in a hereditary murine cataract

The eye lens of the Fraser mouse contains a dominantly inherited cataract with reduced amounts of seven distinct but homologous gamma crystallins encoded by a family of gamma-crystallin genes. The results of experiments with cultured lenses, cell-free RNA translation, and Northern blot hybridization indicated a specific loss of the family of gamma-crystallin messenger RNA's in the Fraser mouse lens. Southern blot hybridization of genomic DNA's from normal and Fraser mice showed no differences in gamma-crystallin coding sequences.     

Selective sparing of a class of striatal neurons in Huntington's disease

A distinct subpopulation of striatal aspiny neurons, containing the enzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase, is preserved in the caudate nucleus in Huntington's disease. Biochemical assays confirmed a significant increase in the activity of this enzyme in both the caudate nucleus and putamen in postmortem brain tissue from patients with this disease. The resistance of these neurons suggests that the gene defect in Huntington's disease may be modifiable by the local biochemical environment. This finding may provide insight into the nature of the genetically programmed cell death that is a characteristic of the disease.     

Dynamics of the vocal imitation process: how a zebra finch learns its song

Song imitation in birds provides good material for studying the basic biology of vocal learning. Techniques were developed for inducing the rapid onset of song imitation in young zebra finches and for tracking trajectories of vocal change over a 7-week period until a match to a model song was achieved. Exposure to a model song induced the prompt generation of repeated structured sounds (prototypes) followed by a slow transition from repetitive to serial delivery of syllables. Tracking this transition revealed two phenomena: (i) Imitations of dissimilar sounds can emerge from successive renditions of the same prototype, and (ii) developmental trajectories for some sounds followed paths of increasing acoustic mismatch until an abrupt correction occurred by period doubling. These dynamics are likely to reflect underlying neural and articulatory constraints on the production and imitation of sounds.     

Bilateral syringeal interaction in vocal production of an oscine bird sound

The vocal organ, or syrinx, of oscine birds has two parts, each of which has generally been presumed to operate independently of the other. A significant counter-example is now demonstrated in the production of a common vocalization by the black-capped chickadee (Parus atricapillus), in which the two acoustic sources interact in a nonlinear fashion. This bird produces a sound with multiple frequency components that are heterodyne products resulting from cross-modulation between two signals, thus providing evidence that avian phonation can involve cooperative coupling between the two syringeal sources.     

A specialized forebrain circuit for vocal babbling in the juvenile songbird

Young animals engage in variable exploratory behaviors essential for the development of neural circuitry and adult motor control, yet the neural basis of these behaviors is largely unknown. Juvenile songbirds produce subsong-a succession of primitive vocalizations akin to human babbling. We found that subsong production in zebra finches does not require HVC (high vocal center), a key premotor area for singing in adult birds, but does require LMAN (lateral magnocellular nucleus of the nidopallium), a forebrain nucleus involved in learning but not in adult singing. During babbling, neurons in LMAN exhibited premotor correlations to vocal output on a fast time scale. Thus, juvenile singing is driven by a circuit distinct from that which produces the adult behavior-a separation possibly general to other developing motor systems.