Precursors of Music and Language in Animals

Language and music are universal human traits, raising the question for their evolutionary origin. This chapter takes a comparative perspective to address that question. It examines similarities and differences between humans and non-human animals (mammals and birds) by addressing whether and which constituent cognitive components that underlie the human ability for language and music can be found in non-human animals. It first provides an introduction to the nature and meaning of vocalizations and non-vocal communicative sounds in non-human animals. Next it reviews experimental and observational evidence of animal perception of various frequency and temporal dimensions of sounds. Many animal species show perceptual and cognitive abilities to distinguish between or to generalize auditory stimuli. This includes evidence of the presence of one or more of the constituent cognitive components on which the human abilities for language and music are based, or that may have served as precursors for these components. At the same time, there are also important differences among animal species in their abilities. Hence contrasts are not limited to those between humans and other animal species. The differences between humans and other species, as well as those among non-human species, might result from specific biases and the weight or priority certain species give to attending to certain features of an acoustic signal, or because different species use particular mechanisms to different degrees

Zebra finches (<i>Taeniopygia guttata</i>) demonstrate cognitive flexibility in using phonology and sequence of syllables in auditory discrimination

Zebra fnches rely mainly on syllable phonology rather than on syllable sequence when they discriminate between two songs. However, they can also learn to discriminate two strings containing the same set of syllables by their sequence. How learning about the phonological characteristics of syllables and their sequence relate to each other and to the composition of the stimuli is still an open question. We compared whether and how the zebra fnches’ relative sensitivity for syllable phonology and syllable sequence depends on the diferences between syllable strings. Two groups of zebra fnches were trained in a Go-Left/Go-Right task to discriminate either between two strings in which each string contained a unique set of song syllables (‘Diferent-syllables group’) or two strings in which both strings contained the same set of syllables, but in a diferent sequential order (‘Same-syllables group’). We assessed to what extent the birds in the two experimental groups attend to the spectral characteristics and the sequence of the syllables by measuring the responses to test strings consisting of spectral modifcations or sequence changes. Our results showed no diference in the number of trials needed to discriminate strings consisting of either diferent or identical sets of syllables. Both experimental groups attended to changes in spectral features in a similar way, but the group for which both training strings consisted of the same set of syllables responded more strongly to changes in sequence than the group for which the training strings consisted of diferent sets of syllables. This outcome suggests the presence of an additional learning process to learn about syllable sequence when learning about syllable phonology is not sufcient to discriminate two strings. Our study thus demonstrates that the relative importance of syllable phonology and sequence depends on how these features vary among stimuli. This indicates cognitive fexibility in the acoustic features that songbirds might use in their song recognition.Animal science

Zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) demonstrate cognitive flexibility in using phonology and sequence of syllables in auditory discrimination

Zebra finches rely mainly on syllable phonology rather than on syllable sequence when they discriminate between two songs. However, they can also learn to discriminate two strings of containing the same set of syllables by their sequence. How learning about the phonological characteristics of syllables and their sequence relate to each other and to the composition of the stimuli is still an open question. We compared whether and how the zebra finches’ relative sensitivity for syllable phonology and syllable sequence depends on the differences between syllable strings. Zebra finches were trained in a Go-Left/Go-Right task to discriminate either between two strings in which each string contained a unique set of song syllables or two strings in which both strings contained the same set of syllables, but in a different sequential order. We assessed to what extent the birds in the two experimental groups attend to the spectral characteristics and the sequence of the syllables by measuring the responses to test strings consisting of spectral modifications or sequence changes. Our results showed no difference in the number of trials needed to discriminate strings consisting of either different or identical sets of syllables. Both experimental groups attended to changes in spectral features in a similar way, but the group for which both training strings consisted of the same set of syllables responded more strongly to changes in sequence than the group for which the training strings consisted of different sets of syllables. This outcome suggests the presence of an additional learning process to learn about syllable sequence when learning about syllable phonology is not sufficient to discriminate two strings. Our study thus demonstrates that the relative importance of syllable phonology and sequence depends on which of these features vary among stimuli. This indicates cognitive flexibility in the acoustic features that songbirds might use in their song recognition

Can Birds Perceive Rhythmic Patterns? A Review and Experiments on a Songbird and a Parrot Species

Article / Letter to editorInstituut Biologie Leide

The role of spectral features and song duration in zebra finch, <i>Taeniopygia guttata</i>, song recognition

Zebra finch song perception is assumed to primarily involve a high sensitivity to fine spectral features of song elements while other features like element sequence and song duration do not seem to have a notable effect. However, the specific features that zebra finches focus on when identifying or discriminating sounds may not be as fixed as seems to be assumed and might depend on the characteristics of the stimuli. This apparent flexibility in auditory processing, along with the potential salience of differences in song duration for song perception, highlights the need for systematic research on the acoustic parameters that zebra finches can use to differentiate between songs. By employing a Go-Left/Go-Right operant task, we examined whether and how differences in song duration affect zebra finches' relative sensitivity for spectral features and duration in song recognition. Two groups of zebra finches were trained in a Go-Left/Go-Right operant task to discriminate between either two songs with similar durations (‘Equal-duration group’) or two songs with different durations (‘Unequal-duration group’). We assessed to what extent the birds in the two experimental groups attend to the spectral characteristics and the absolute duration of the songs by measuring the responses to test stimuli consisting of spectral modifications or temporal changes. Our results showed that zebra finches use both spectral features and song duration to discriminate between two songs, but the importance of these acoustic parameters depended on whether the songs differed in duration or not. When duration can be used as an additional feature to distinguish two songs, spectral features have a less prominent role. This outcome shows that zebra finches have cognitive flexibility in their attention to different acoustic parameters

Microtiming patterns and interactions with musical properties in Samba music

In this study, we focus on the interaction between microtiming patterns and several musical properties: intensity, meter and spectral characteristics. The data-set of 106 musical audio excerpts is processed by means of an auditory model and then divided into several spectral regions and metric levels. The resulting segments are described in terms of their musical properties, over which patterns of peak positions and their intensities are sought. A clustering algorithm is used to systematize the process of pattern detection. The results confirm previously reported anticipations of the third and fourth semiquavers in a beat. We also argue that these patterns of microtiming deviations interact with different profiles of intensities that change according to the metrical structure and spectral characteristics. In particular, we suggest two new findings: (i) a small delay of microtiming positions at the lower end of the spectrum on the first semiquaver of each beat and (ii) systematic forms of accelerando and ritardando at a microtiming level covering two-beat and four-beat phrases. The results demonstrate the importance of multidimensional interactions with timing aspects of music. However, more research is needed in order to find proper representations for rhythm and microtiming aspects in such contexts

Phosphatidylinositol-(4,5)-bisphosphate regulates sorting signal recognition by the clathrin-associated adaptor complex AP2

The alpha,beta2,mu2,sigma2 heterotetrameric AP2 complex is recruited exclusively to the phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns4,5P(2))-rich plasma membrane where, amongst other roles, it selects motif-containing cargo proteins for incorporation into clathrin-coated vesicles. Unphosphorylated and mu2Thr156-monophosphorylated AP2 mutated in their alphaPtdIns4,5P(2), mu2PtdIns4,5P(2), and mu2Yxxvarphi binding sites were produced, and their interactions with membranes of different phospholipid and cargo composition were measured by surface plasmon resonance. We demonstrate that recognition of Yxxvarphi and acidic dileucine motifs is dependent on corecognition with PtdIns4,5P(2), explaining the selective recruitment of AP2 to the plasma membrane. The interaction of AP2 with PtdIns4,5P(2)/Yxxvarphi-containing membranes is two step: initial recruitment via the alphaPtdIns4,5P(2) site and then stabilization through the binding of mu2Yxxvarphi and mu2PtdIns4,5P(2) sites to their ligands. The second step is facilitated by a conformational change favored by mu2Thr156 phosphorylation. The binding of AP2 to acidic-dileucine motifs occurs at a different site from Yxxvarphi binding and is not enhanced by mu2Thr156 phosphorylation

Cholinergic chemotransmission and anesthetic drug effects at the carotid bodies

Perioperative Medicine: Efficacy, Safety and Outcome (Anesthesiology/Intensive Care

A Parse-based Framework for Coupled Rhythm Quantization and Score Structuring

International audienceWe present a formal language-based framework for MIDI-to-score transcription, the problem of converting a sequence of symbolic musical events with arbitrary timestamps into a structured music score. The framework aims at solving in one pass the two subproblems of rhythm quantization and score production. It relies, throughout the process, on an apriori hierarchical model of scores given by generative grammars. We show that this coupled approach helps to make relevant and interrelated decisions, and we present an algorithm computing transcription solutions optimal with respect to both the fitness of the quantization to the input, and a measure of complexity of music notation

Reduced postoperative pain using Nociception Level-guided fentanyl dosing during sevoflurane anaesthesia: a randomised controlled trial

Background: The majority of postoperative patients report moderate to severe pain, possibly related to opioid under-dosing or overdosing during surgery. Objective guidance of opioid dosing using the Nociception Level (NOL) index, a multiparameter artificial intelligence-driven index designed to monitor nociception during surgery, may lead to a more appropriate analgesic regimen, with effects beyond surgery. We tested whether NOL-guided opioid dosing during general anaesthesia results in less postoperative pain.Methods: In this two-centre RCT, 50 patients undergoing abdominal surgery under fentanyl/sevoflurane anaesthesia were randomised to NOL-guided fentanyl dosing or standard care in which fentanyl dosing was based on haemodynamics. The primary endpoint of the study was postoperative pain assessed in the PACU.Results: Median postoperative pain scores were 3.2 (inter-quartile range 1.3-4.3) and 4.8 (3.0-5.3) in NOL-guided and standard care groups, respectively (P=0.006). Postoperative morphine consumption (standard deviation) was 0.06 (0.07) mg kg(-1) (NOL-guided group) and 0.09 (0.09) mg kg(-1) (control group; P=0.204). During surgery, fentanyl dosing was not different between groups (NOL-guided group: 6.4 [4.2] mg kg(-1) vs standard care: 6.0 [2.2] mg kg(-1), P=0.749), although the variation between patients was greater in the NOL-guided group (% coefficient of variation 66% in the NOL-guided group vs 37% in the standard care group).Conclusions: Despite absence of differences in fentanyl and morphine consumption during and after surgery, a 1.6-point improvement in postoperative pain scores was observed in the NOL-guided group. We attribute this to NOL-driven rather than BP- and HR-driven fentanyl dosing during anaesthesia.Perioperative Medicine: Efficacy, Safety and Outcome (Anesthesiology/Intensive Care