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Song syntax changes in Bengalese finches singing in a helium atmosphere
1Graduate School of Science and Technology, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8522, Japan.
Abstract:
Male Bengalese finches rely heavily on hearing to maintain adult songs and deafening a bird changes its song syntax immediately. Eight adult male Bengalese finches were placed in a helium atmosphere, which changes the resonance of the vocal tract. Undirected songs were recorded before, during and after this procedure, and the changes in song structure were analyzed. A helium environment increases the amplitude of higher harmonics, as in other bird species. Furthermore, note-to-note transition patterns that were never recorded when singing in normal air appeared in the songs sung in helium air. Therefore, helium can be used to cause reversible syntactical re-organization of songs in Bengalese finches, which can be used to study the neural mechanisms of auditory feedback.
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