Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Vocal learning in birds and humans.

Linda Wilbrecht1, Fernando Nottebohm

  • 1Laboratory of Animal Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021, USA.

Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews
|September 4, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Vocal learning, the ability to modify sounds using auditory feedback, is crucial for speech and is also found in songbirds. This review explores its biology, comparing songbird and human vocal learning.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Population-level encoding of task information is stronger in the adolescent compared to adult frontal cortex.

Developmental cognitive neuroscience·2026
Same author

Absence of Testes at Puberty Impacts Functional Development of Nigrostriatal But Not Mesoaccumbal Dopamine Terminals in a Wild-Derived Mouse.

eNeuro·2025
Same author

Nucleus accumbens dopamine release reflects Bayesian inference during instrumental learning.

PLoS computational biology·2025
Same author

Absence of testes at puberty impacts functional development of nigrostriatal but not mesoaccumbal dopamine terminals in a wild-derived mouse.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

Optical Fibers Functionalized with Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Flexible Fluorescent Catecholamine Detection.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2025
Same author

Genetic changes linked to two different syndromic forms of autism enhance reinforcement learning in early adolescent male but not female mice.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025

Area of Science:

  • Comparative biology
  • Neuroscience
  • Evolutionary biology

Background:

  • Vocal learning enables sound imitation and improvisation, crucial for vocal communication.
  • This skill is fundamental to human language evolution but is not exclusive to humans.
  • Songbirds exhibit vocal learning, providing a tractable model for biological study.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review key features of vocal learning.
  • To compare vocal learning mechanisms in songbirds and humans.
  • To highlight parallels and differences in the biology of vocal learning.

Main Methods:

  • Review of anatomical, developmental, and behavioral aspects of vocal learning.
  • Comparative analysis of songbird and human vocal learning systems.
  • Literature synthesis on the biological underpinnings of vocal imitation.

Main Results:

  • Vocal learning involves specific neural circuits and developmental processes in both species.
  • Shared principles govern auditory-dependent vocal plasticity.
  • Distinct evolutionary paths and ecological pressures shape vocal learning.

Conclusions:

  • Vocal learning is a complex trait with conserved and divergent features across species.
  • Songbirds offer valuable insights into the fundamental biology of vocal learning.
  • Understanding avian vocal learning can illuminate human speech evolution.

Related Experiment Videos