Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 23, 2026

A Lightweight, Headphones-based System for Manipulating Auditory Feedback in Songbirds
Published on: November 26, 2012
Inhibitory and excitatory mechanisms underlying auditory responses to learned vocalizations in the songbird nucleus
Merri J Rosen1, Richard Mooney
1Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Abstract:
Speech and birdsong require auditory feedback for their development and maintenance, necessitating precise auditory encoding of vocal sounds. In songbirds, the telencephalic song premotor nucleus HVC contains neurons that respond highly selectively to the bird's own song (BOS), a property distinguishing HVC from its auditory afferents. We examined the contribution of inhibitory and excitatory synaptic inputs to BOS-evoked firing in those HVC neurons innervating a pathway essential for audition-dependent vocal plasticity. Using in vivo intracellular techniques, we found that G protein-coupled, potassium-mediated inhibition, tuned to the BOS, interacts with BOS-tuned excitation through several mechanisms to shape neuronal firing patterns. Furthermore, in the absence of this inhibition, the response bias to the BOS increases, reminiscent of cancellation mechanisms in other sensorimotor systems.
Related Concept Videos
The Cochlea
Hair Cells
Hearing
Auditory Pathway
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...
Brainstem: Control Centers of Medulla
Olivary Nucleus
The olivary nucleus, or inferior olivary nucleus, is located within the ventrolateral part of the medulla oblongata. It is primarily involved in motor coordination and motor learning. The olivary nucleus receives input from the spinal cord, cerebellum, and motor...

