Syringeal electromyograms and synthetic stimuli reveal a switch-like activation of the songbird's vocal motor program

DÖPPLER, JUAN F.; MINDLIN, GABRIEL B.; ALAN BUSH; GOLLER, FRANZ

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

NATL ACAD SCIENCES

Lugar: Washington DC, USA; Año: 2018

0027-8424

The coordination of complex vocal behaviors like human speechand oscine birdsong require fine interactions between sensoryand motor programs, the details of which are not completelyunderstood. Here we show that in sleeping male zebra finches(Taeniopygia guttata), the activity of the song system selectivelyevoked by playbacks of their own song can be detected in the sy-rinx. Electromyograms (EMG) of a syringeal muscle show playback-evoked patterns strikingly similar to those recorded during songexecution, with preferred activation instants within the song.Using this global and continuous readout we studied the activationdynamics of the song system elicited by different auditory stimuli.We found that synthetic versions of the bird´s song, rendered bya physical model of the avian phonation apparatus, evoked verysimilar responses, albeit with lower efficiency. Modifications ofautogenous or synthetic songs reduce the response probability,but when present, the elicited activity patterns match executionpatterns in shape and timing, indicating an all-or-nothing activa-tion of the vocal motor program.