Contributions of expiratory muscles to song production in zebra finches

Journal ArticleBirdsong production requires coordinated activity of syringeal and respiratory muscles, Phonation occurs during the expiratory phase of the respiratory cycle, and expiratory muscles generate the pressure head for sound production

Synthesizing bird song

Journal ArticleIn this work we present an electronic syrinx: an analogical integrator of the equations describing a model for sound production by oscine birds. The model depends on time varying parameters with clear biological interpretation: the air sac pressure and the tension of ventral syringeal muscles. We test the hypothesis that these physiological parameters can be reconstructed from the song. In order to do so, we built two transducers. The input for these transducers is an acoustic signal. The first transducer generates an electric signal that we use to reconstruct the bronchial pressure. The second transducer allows us to reconstruct the syringeal tension (in both cases, for the time intervals where phonation takes place). By driving the electronic syrinx with the output of the transducers we generate synthetic song. Important qualitative features of the acoustic input signal are reproduced by the synthetic song. These devices are especially useful to carry out altered feedback experiences, and applications as biomimetic resources are discussed

Motor control of sound frequency in birdsong involves the interaction between air sac pressure and labial tension

pre-printFrequency modulation is a salient acoustic feature of birdsong. Its control is usually attributed to the activity of syringeal muscles, which affect the tension of the labia responsible for sound production. We use experimental and theoretical tools to test the hypothesis that for birds producing tonal sounds such as domestic canaries (Serinus canaria), frequency modulation is determined by both the syringeal tension and the air sac pressure. For different models, we describe the structure of the isofrequency curves, which are sets of parameters leading to sounds presenting the same fundamental frequencies. We show how their shapes determine the relative roles of syringeal tension and air sac pressure in frequency modulation. Finally, we report experiments that allow us to unveil the features of the isofrequency curves

Nonlinear model predicts diverse respiratory patterns of birdsong

Journal ArticleA central aspect of the motor control of birdsong production is the capacity to generate diverse respiratory rhythms, which determine the coarse temporal pattern of song. The neural mechanisms that underlie this diversity of respiratory gestures and the resulting acoustic syllables are largely unknown. We show that the respiratory patterns of the highly complex and variable temporal organization of song in the canary (Serinus canaria) can be generated as solutions of a simple model describing the integration between song control and respiratory centers. This example suggests that subharmonic behavior can play an important role in providing a complex variety of responses with minimal neural substrate

Olfactory modulation of pre-flight shivering behavior in male moths

PosterIn nocturnal moths olfaction is the predominant sensory modality shaping many of the adult animal?s activities, including reproduction. A two-component pheromone blend is sufficient to elicit the typical zigzag upwind flight behavior in Helicoverpa zea males. However, before flight can be initiated, the endothermic flight muscles must first be warmed-up by shivering. We investigated the influence of olfactory sensory input on this thermoregulatory behavior. An infrared camera placed above a small wind tunnel was used to record and measure the thoracic temperature changes in free animals that were exposed to odor blends varying in their composition (ranging from an attractive pheromone blend to an unattractive blend containing behaviorally antagonistic odorants). In addition, maximum vertical force per unit muscle mass as a function of thoracic temperature was determined in tethered flight with a force transducer. Male H. zea exposed to the attractive pheromone blend spent less time on the ground when shivering, warmed up at faster rates and took off at lower mean thoracic temperatures than those males exposed to other pheromone blend combinations. Force measurements demonstrated that these lower thoracic temperatures exhibited by males exposed to the attractive pheromone blend, correspond to low maximum vertical force production when compared to the other treatments. Since there is an optimal thoracic temperature for flight, these results indicate that male moths are prepared to compromise optimal flight efficiency with the possibility of being the first to arrive at a receptive female. 2. Introduction Attractive, unattractive and even repulsive scents are environmental cues that allow animals to assess the presence of a particular resource (e.g., food or mates) and how they will react to it. Strong selective pressures act on this olfactory behavior which includes the decision of whether or not to approach the olfactory stimulus and an efficient and successful location of the source. How olfactory stimuli influence motor behavior is an important question of sensory motor integration. In this study, we investigated the warm-up behavior of the moth Helicoverpa zea when sensing different odors based on pheromone blends

Low-dimensional dynamical model for the diversity of pressure patterns used in canary song

Journal ArticleDuring song production, oscine birds produce large air sac pressure pulses. During those pulses, energy is transferred to labia located at the juncture between the bronchii and the trachea, inducing the high frequency labial oscillations which are responsible for airflow modulations, i.e., the uttered sound. In order to generate diverse syllables, canaries (Serinus canaria) use a set of air sac pressure patterns with characteristic shapes. In this work we show that these different shapes can be approximated by the subharmonic solutions of a forced normal form

Coordination and synergism between visual and vocal display in the brown-headed cowbirds

Journal ArticleSexually selected acoustic signaling is accompanied by visual displays in many birds. The motor integration of visual and vocal displays has not been extensively studied. Brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) "puff up" prior to song, move their wings during the song and conclude with a bow. The Society for Neuroscience 33rd Annual Meeting Selected Abstracts Coordination and synergism between visual and vocal display in brown - headed cowbirds. B. G. Cooper; F. Goller Dept. Biol, Univ. Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA Program Number: 294.13 Presentation Time: Sunday, Nov. 9, 1: 00 PM - 2: 00 P

Song development in birds tutored with phrase pairs

Journal ArticleA study of the developmental trajectory of bird song can offer insight into the process of vocal learning. In a previous experiment we tutored white-crowned sparrows with isolated phrase pairs taken from adult conspecific songs consisting of 5 phrases

Lateralization as a symmetry breaking process in birdsong

Journal ArticleThe singing by songbirds is a most convincing example in the animal kingdom of functional lateralization of the brain, a feature usually associated with human language. Lateralization is expressed as one or both of the bird's sound sources being active during the vocalization. Normal songs require high coordination between the vocal organ and respiratory activity, which is bilaterally symmetric

Tracheal length changes and upper vocal tract resonances during zebra finch song

Journal ArticleUpper vocal tract resonances in singing birds could be modified by beak opening, laryngeal adjustments and tracheal length changes