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

Temporal structure in zebra finch song: implications for motor coding.

Christopher M Glaze1, Todd W Troyer

  • 1Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA. c_m_glaze@yahoo.com

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|January 20, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Adult zebra finch songs exhibit hierarchical structure, not just clock-like bursting. Song timing reveals distinct mechanisms for syllable and gap lengths, supporting a hierarchical organization for bird vocalizations.

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

A top-down search for inhibitory cell subtypes in the songbird.

Neuron·2025
Same author

Regulation of vocal precision by noradrenergic modulation of a motor nucleus.

Journal of neurophysiology·2020
Same author

Pupil diameter encodes the idiosyncratic, cognitive complexity of belief updating.

eLife·2020
Same author

Optimal spectral templates for triggered feedback experiments.

PloS one·2020
Same author

Timing during transitions in Bengalese finch song: implications for motor sequencing.

Journal of neurophysiology·2017
Same author

Continuous Time Representations of Song in Zebra Finches.

Neuron·2016

Area of Science:

  • Neuroethology
  • Animal Communication
  • Bioacoustics

Background:

  • Adult zebra finch songs are stereotyped sequences of syllables.
  • Debate exists on whether song structure is hierarchical or driven by non-hierarchical bursting in the HVC nucleus.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the temporal structure of zebra finch songs.
  • To determine if song structure is hierarchical.
  • To identify mechanisms controlling song timing.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a semiautomated template-matching algorithm for syllable sequence identification.
  • Employed a modified dynamic time-warping algorithm for fine-grained temporal measurements.
  • Analyzed song length, syllable and gap durations, and temporal correlations.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Song length changes globally, not through accumulated variance.
  • Song length varies systematically with time of day, bird activity, and female presence.
  • Syllable and gap durations exhibit distinct variability patterns, with syllables less elastic than gaps.
  • Syllable-syllable and gap-gap correlations are stronger than syllable-gap correlations.
  • Increased temporal variability occurs at motif boundaries.
  • Syllable onsets may play a role in aligning syllables with global song structure.

Conclusions:

  • Timing data support a hierarchical view of zebra finch song, composed of syllable-based units.
  • Distinct mechanisms govern syllable and gap timing.
  • Findings provide constraints for interpreting physiological recordings of song production.