Stabilization of sexual preferences by sexual experience in male zebra finches, taeniopygia guttata castanotis

Bischof H-J, Clayton N. Stabilization of sexual preferences by sexual experience in male zebra finches, taeniopygia guttata castanotis. Behaviour. 1991;118(1):144-154.Male zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttala castanotis, were normally-raised by zebra finches or were cross-fostered to Bengalese finch, Lonchura striata, foster-parents until 40 days of age. Following isolation until day 100, half the birds in each group were housed with a zebra finch female for seven days, isolated for three days and then housed with a Bengalese finch female for seven days. The other birds were exposed to females in the reverse order. Subsequent double-choice tests showed that all the normally-raised birds preferred zebra finch females whereas the preference of cross-fostered males depended on the order of exposure to the two females: those exposed first to a Bengalese finch female preferred Bengalese finch females whereas of those exposed first to a zebra finch female, some preferred zebra finches, some preferred Bengalese finches and some showed no marked preference for either female. In order to examine the question of why the latter group showed such markd individual variation in their sexual preferences, a further group of males were cross-fostered to Bengalese finches and exposed to a zebra finch female and then to a Bengalese finch female and their behaviors were observed from day 21 until day 40 and for the two, seven-day periods with the females. The results showed that, when comparing brothers within clutches, the one that begs and is fed more by its foster-parents develops a stronger preference for Benglese finch females and that the more song phrases a male directs to the zebra finch female during the first seven-day period, the stronger the sexual preference for zebra finch females in the double-choice tests. Hence, our results confirm and extend those of IMMELMANN et al. (1991) and KRUIJT and MEEUWISSEN (1991) that sexual imprinting may be a two step process. As a first step, information about the parents is learned during a sensitive period early in life. In a second step, this information has to be tested for its validity for the selection of a sexual partner during first courtship encounters. It is the second step where the previously stored information is stabilized in memory. Giving conflicting information during the first and the second step, one can show that interactions between the young male and its parents as well as with the first sexual partner influence the final preference it shows in subsequent double choice tests

The importance of visual, vocal and behavioural cues for song tutor choice in Zebra finches

This thesis examines the importance of visual, vocal and behavioural cues for song tutor choice in zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata. Zebra finch males normally copy song at 35 to 65 days of age. In the wild the young become independent at about 35 days of age and form small flocks in the area of the colony where they will be exposed to a variety of song tutors. In Chapter 3 captive zebra finches are provided with the opportunity to learn from two conspecifics at 35 days of age. Female-raised males which are housed with two unrelated tutors prefer to learn from the one who is, most aggressive towards them. Normally-raised males which are housed with an unrelated tutor and one, whose song is similar to the father's tend to copy the tutor with the similar song: this relies on the young bird learning some characteristics of his father's song before independence. Chapter 4 shows that males and females can discriminate between their father's song and those of other males. Visual, vocal and behavioural cues are all important for species-specificity. Cross-fostering using Bengalese finches, Lonchura striata, as foster-parents is an important tool for studying this. Chapter 5 looks at Bengalese finch song development; Chapter 6 compares song development in cross-fostered zebra finches and Bengalese finches. Visual cues are important for tutor choice and young males of both species which are provided with a zebra finch singing Bengalese song and a Bengalese finch singing zebra finch song prefer the conspecific tutor (Chapter 7). Chapter 8 suggests that conspecific song elements are not important for zebra finches: there is no tendency to prefer a tutor with normal song over one singing Bengalese song. Cross-fostering can also, influence the timing of song learning. Males which are housed successively (Chapter 9) or simultaneously (Chapter 10) with both species tend to reproduce song which they heard before independence in addition to learning from the tutor which they heard after independence at 35 to 65 days of age: this indicates that the timing of the sensitive phase is flexible and mediated by both experience and age. There are a number of similarities between song learning and sexual imprinting which are discussed in Chapter 11. Crucial to these studies is a knowledge of the two species' behaviours. Chapter 12 compares, parental behaviour in captivity. Chapter 12 concludes with a plea for more research in the wild

The evolution of dance.

Evidence from multiple sources reveals a surprising link between imitation and dance. As in the classical correspondence problem central to imitation research, dance requires mapping across sensory modalities and the integration of visual and auditory inputs with motor outputs. Recent research in comparative psychology supports this association, in that entrainment to a musical beat is almost exclusively observed in animals capable of vocal or motor imitation. Dance has representational properties that rely on the dancers' ability to imitate particular people, animals or events, as well as the audience's ability to recognize these correspondences. Imitation also plays a central role in learning to dance and the acquisition of the long sequences of choreographed movements are dependent on social learning. These and other lines of evidence suggest that dancing may only be possible for humans because its performance exploits existing neural circuitry employed in imitation.Research supported in part by ERC Advanced (EVOCULTURE, ref: 232823) and John Templeton Foundation grants to KNL. We are indebted to Mark Baldwin, Nadia Stern and the dancers and rehearsal directors of Rambert for helpful discussion.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Cell Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.11.03

Where was I? Taking alternative visual perspectives can make us (briefly) misplace our own

How do we imagine what the world looks like from another visual perspective? The two most common proposals—embodiment and array rotation—imply that we must briefly imagine either movement of the self (embodiment) or movement of the scene (array rotation). What is not clear is what this process might mean for our real, egocentric perspective of the world. We present a novel task in which participants had to locate a target from an alternative perspective but make a manual response consistent with their own. We found that when errors occurred they were usually manual responses that would have been correct from the computed alternative perspective. This was the case both when participants were instructed to find the target from another perspective and when they were asked to imagine the scene itself rotated. We interpret this as direct evidence that perspective-taking leads to the brief adoption of computed perspective—a new imagined relationship between ourselves and the scene—to the detriment of our own, egocentric point of view

Special Issue: Space, Time and Number Origins of spatial, temporal and numerical cognition: Insights from comparative psychology

Contemporary comparative cognition has a large repertoire of animal models and methods, with concurrent theoretical advances that are providing initial answers to crucial questions about human cognition. What cognitive traits are uniquely human? What are the speciestypical inherited predispositions of the human mind? What is the human mind capable of without certain types of specific experiences with the surrounding environment? Here, we review recent findings from the domains of space, time and number cognition. These findings are produced using different comparative methodologies relying on different animal species, namely birds and non-human great apes. The study of these species not only reveals the range of cognitive abilities across vertebrates, but also increases our understanding of human cognition in crucial ways. Researching human cognition through the study of other species 'He who understands baboon would do more towards Metaphysics than Locke' (Charles Darwin, 1838, Notebook M84e) In this short note, 21 years before publication of the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin recognised the value of studying animal cognition for human psychology. Implicit here is the idea that cognitive processes are biological adaptations with evolutionary histories and, therefore, cognition is tractable to between-species mapping of similarities and differences in cognitive abilities. The past two decades have seen an increase in the number of species studied and the types of methodological approaches used in the growing field of comparative cognition Are some cognitive capacities in place at birth? Rigorous controlled-rearing experiments with non-human animals enabled scientists to establish what mechanisms are present at birth and the impact of specific experiences on shaping basic perceptual-motor capacities 552 1364-6613/$ -see front matter

Whole-genome sequencing of a quarter-century melioidosis outbreak in temperate Australia uncovers a region of low-prevalence endemicity

This study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council via awards 1046812 and 1098337, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute via award 098051. S.J.P. receives funding from the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre.Melioidosis, caused by the highly recombinogenic bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, is a disease with high mortality. Tracing the origin of melioidosis outbreaks and understanding how the bacterium spreads and persists in the environment are essential to protecting public and veterinary health and reducing mortality associated with outbreaks. We used whole-genome sequencing to compare isolates from a historical quarter-century outbreak that occurred between 1966 and 1991 in the Avon Valley, Western Australia, a region far outside the known range of B. pseudomallei endemicity. All Avon Valley outbreak isolates shared the same multilocus sequence type (ST-284), which has not been identified outside this region. We found substantial genetic diversity among isolates based on a comparison of genome-wide variants, with no clear correlation between genotypes and temporal, geographical or source data. We observed little evidence of recombination in the outbreak strains, indicating that genetic diversity among these isolates has primarily accrued by mutation. Phylogenomic analysis demonstrated that the isolates confidently grouped within the Australian B. pseudomallei clade, thereby ruling out introduction from a melioidosis-endemic region outside Australia. Collectively, our results point to B. pseudomallei ST-284 being present in the Avon Valley for longer than previously recognized, with its persistence and genomic diversity suggesting long-term, low-prevalence endemicity in this temperate region. Our findings provide a concerning demonstration of the potential for environmental persistence of B. pseudomallei far outside the conventional endemic regions. An expected increase in extreme weather events may reactivate latent B. pseudomallei populations in this region.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The creative navigator's compass

If we could tell you where you were going and how you could get there, would you want to know? Imagine a crystal ball that could anticipate the future: would you dare to gaze into its deep, unfathomable mystery? If you were so inclined, what do you think you would see or perhaps hope to discover as you observe yourself anticipating your unwritten future, or the shared destiny of your loved ones and those you hold dear, the unfolding intrigue and machinations of a society intent on pursuing the great schema of things? Is it the case that any of these conundrums affect our perception of the world, not only of what the future may hold, but also our memories, our reflections and interpretations of what has gone before? It’s all too easy to assume that what we imagine is an accurate reflection of reality. Many of our greatest deceptions evolve out of such faulty supposition