Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 6, 2026

A Lightweight, Headphones-based System for Manipulating Auditory Feedback in Songbirds
Published on: November 26, 2012
Functional evidence for internal feedback in the songbird brain nucleus HVC
Yoshimasa Seki1, Kazuo Okanoya
1Graduate School of Science and Technology, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
Abstract:
The song control system of songbirds consists mainly of the 'motor pathway' and 'anterior forebrain pathway'. The medial magnocellular nucleus of anterior nidopallium (mMAN) projects to the song control nucleus HVC, which is the point of divergence of the two pathways. We made simultaneous multiunit electrophysiological recordings from the mMAN and HVC in anesthetized Bengalese finches. We confirmed that the mMAN neurons showed song-selective auditory responses, and found temporal correlations between song-related activities of the mMAN and HVC neurons. The temporal relationship between the neural activation of the HVC and mMAN suggests that these nuclei are parts of a closed loop, which could provide internal feedback to the HVC for sequential syllable control.
Related Concept Videos
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Hearing
The Cochlea
Diencephalon: Anatomical Regions
Feedback Inhibition
Diencephalon: Thalamus and Information Relay

