Erich Jarvis Finds the Genes That Control Vocal Learning in Birds and Humans Message from the Dean
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National Council on the Humanities Minutes, No. 11-15
Office of th8 General Counsel N ational Foundation on the Aria and the Humanities MINUTES OF THE ELEVENTH MEETING OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON THE HUMANITIES Held Monday and Tuesday, February 17-18, 1969 U. S. Department of State Washington, D. C. Members present; Barnaby C. Keeney, Chairman Henry Haskell Jacob Avshalomov Mathilde Krim Edmund F. Ball Henry Allen Moe Robert T. Bower James Wm. Morgan *Germaine Br&e Ieoh Ming Pei Gerald F. Else Emmette W. Redford Emily Genauer Robert Ward Allan A. Glatthorn Alfred Wilhelmi Members absent: Kenneth B. Clark Charles E. Odegaard John M. Ehle Walter J. Ong Paul G. Horgan Eugene B. Power Albert William Levi John P. Roche Soia Mentschikoff Stephen J. Wright James Cuff O'Brien *Present Monday only - 2 - Guests present: *Mr. Harold Arberg, director, Arts and Humanities Program, U. S. Office of Education Dr. William Emerson, assistant to the president, Hollins College, Virginia Staff members present; Dr. James H. Blessing, director, Division of Fellowships and Stipends, and acting director, Division of Research and Publication, National Endowment for the Humanities Dr. S. Sydney Bradford, program officer, Division of Research and Publication, NEH Miss Kathleen Brady, director, Office of Grants, NEH Mr. C. Jack Conyers, director, Office of Planning and Analysis, NEH Mr. Wallace B. Edgerton, deputy chairman, NEH Mr. Gerald George, special assistant to the chairman, NEH Dr. Richard Hedrich, Director of Public Programs, NEH Dr. Herbert McArthur, Director of Education Programs, NEH Miss Nancy McCall, research assistant, Office of Planning and Analysis, NEH Mr. Richard McCarthy, assistant to the director, Office of Planning and Analysis, NEH Miss Laura Olson, Public Information Officer, NEH Dr. -
The Evolution of Human Vocal Emotion
EMR0010.1177/1754073920930791Emotion ReviewBryant 930791research-article2020 SPECIAL SECTION: EMOTION IN THE VOICE Emotion Review Vol. 13, No. 1 (January 2021) 25 –33 © The Author(s) 2020 ISSN 1754-0739 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073920930791 10.1177/1754073920930791 The Evolution of Human Vocal Emotion https://journals.sagepub.com/home/emr Gregory A. Bryant Department of Communication, Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, USA Abstract Vocal affect is a subcomponent of emotion programs that coordinate a variety of physiological and psychological systems. Emotional vocalizations comprise a suite of vocal behaviors shaped by evolution to solve adaptive social communication problems. The acoustic forms of vocal emotions are often explicable with reference to the communicative functions they serve. An adaptationist approach to vocal emotions requires that we distinguish between evolved signals and byproduct cues, and understand vocal affect as a collection of multiple strategic communicative systems subject to the evolutionary dynamics described by signaling theory. We should expect variability across disparate societies in vocal emotion according to culturally evolved pragmatic rules, and universals in vocal production and perception to the extent that form–function relationships are present. Keywords emotion, evolution, signaling, vocal affect Emotional communication is central to social life for many ani- 2001; Pisanski, Cartei, McGettigan, Raine, & Reby, 2016; mals. Beginning with Darwin -
Science News | December 19, 2009 Feature | Humans Wonder, Anybody Home?
FEATURE | HUMANS WONDER, ANYBODY HOME? To prevent Shania the octopus from becom- Humans wonder, ing bored, keepers at the National Aquarium in Washington, D.C., gave her a Mr. Potato Head filled with fish to snuggle. Researchers anybody are now looking beyond behavior into the brain for signs of awareness in birds and invertebrates. home? Brain structure and circuitry offer clues to consciousness in nonmammals By Susan Gaidos ne afternoon while participat except for the fact that Betty was a New ing in studies in a University Caledonian crow. of Oxford lab, Abel snatched Betty isn’t the only crow with such a hook away from Betty, leav conceptual ingenuity. Nor are crows the Oing her without a tool to complete a task. only members of the animal kingdom to Spying a piece of straight wire nearby, exhibit similar mental powers. Animals POST WASHINGTON THE she picked it up, bent one end into a can do all sorts of clever things: Studies EARY/ L ’ hook and used it to finish the job. Noth of chimpanzees, gorillas, dolphins and O ILL ing about this story was remarkable, birds have found that some can add, B 22 | SCIENCE NEWS | December 19, 2009 www.sciencenews.org FEATURE | HUMANS WONDER, ANYBODY HOME? subtract, create sentences, plan ahead objects in their visual field. “This raises or deceive others. the intriguing question whether con Brain-on-brain comparisons To carry out such tasks, these animals scious experience requires the specific In an effort to find signs of conscious- ness, scientists are identifying analo- must be drawing on past experiences and structure of human or primate brains,” gous structures (same coloring) among then using them along with immediate biologist Donald Griffin wrote inAnimal the brains of humans, birds, octopuses perceptions to make sense of it all. -
Going Beyond Just-So Stories Response to Commentary on Key on Fish Pain
Animal Sentience 2016.022: Response to Commentary on Key on Fish Pain Going beyond just-so stories Response to Commentary on Key on Fish Pain Brian Key School of Biomedical Sciences University of Queensland Abstract: Colloquial arguments for fish feeling pain are deeply rooted in anthropometric tendencies that confuse escape responses to noxious stimuli with evidence for consciousness. More developed arguments often rely on just-so stories of fish displaying complex behaviours as proof of consciousness. In response to commentaries on the idea that fish do not feel pain, I raise the need to go beyond just-so stories and to rigorously analyse the neural circuitry responsible for specific behaviours using new and emerging technologies in neuroscience. By deciphering the causal relationship between neural information processing and conscious behaviour, it should be possible to assess cogently the likelihood of whether a vertebrate species has the neural hardware necessary to — at least — support the feeling of pain. Brian Key [email protected] is Head of the Brain Growth and Regeneration Lab at the University of Queensland. He is dedicated to understanding the principles of stem cell biology, differentiation, axon guidance, plasticity, regeneration and development of the brain. http://www.uq.edu.au/sbms/staff/brian-key Just-so stories In this response to commentaries on the target article “Fish do not feel pain” (Key), I do not plan to interrogate either the putative behavioural evidence or the just-so stories previously proposed as supportive of fish feeling pain (Balcombe; Braithwaite & Droege; Broom; Brown; Dinets; Ng). These claims have been adequately addressed and refuted in recent literature (Key, 2015a and 2015b; Rose et al., 2014). -
A Novel Reinforcement Model of Birdsong Vocalization Learning
A Novel Reinforcement Model of Birdsong Vocalization Learning Kenji Doya Terrence J. Sejnowski ATR Human Infonnation Processing Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Laboratories UCSD and Salk Institute, 2-2 Hikaridai, Seika, Kyoto 619-02, Japan San Diego, CA 92186-5800, USA Abstract Songbirds learn to imitate a tutor song through auditory and motor learn ing. We have developed a theoretical framework for song learning that accounts for response properties of neurons that have been observed in many of the nuclei that are involved in song learning. Specifically, we suggest that the anteriorforebrain pathway, which is not needed for song production in the adult but is essential for song acquisition, provides synaptic perturbations and adaptive evaluations for syllable vocalization learning. A computer model based on reinforcement learning was con structed that could replicate a real zebra finch song with 90% accuracy based on a spectrographic measure. The second generation of the bird song model replicated the tutor song with 96% accuracy. 1 INTRODUCTION Studies of motor pattern generation have generally focussed on innate motor behaviors that are genetically preprogrammed and fine-tuned by adaptive mechanisms (Harris-Warrick et al., 1992). Birdsong learning provides a favorable opportunity for investigating the neuronal mechanisms for the acquisition of complex motor patterns. Much is known about the neuroethology of bird song and its neuroanatomical substrate (see Nottebohm, 1991 and Doupe, 1993 for reviews), but relatively little is known about the overall system from a computational viewpoint. We propose a set of hypotheses for the functions of the brain nuclei in the song system and explore their computational strength in a model based on biological constraints. -
The Spiritof Howard
WINTER 11 magazine SpiritThe f o Howard 001 C1 Cover.indd 1 2/15/11 2:34 PM Editor’s Letter Volume 19, Number 2 PRESIDENT Sidney A. Ribeau, Ph.D. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING Thef Spirit o Howard Judi Moore Latta, Ph.D. EDITOR Raven Padgett Founders Library, named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, is such PUBLICATIONS SPECIALIST an iconic structure. While the clock tower that sits atop the library is one of the most LaShandra N. Gary recognizable physical symbols of Howard, the collection of history housed within CONTRIBUTING WRITERS the building may best represent the spirit of the University. Erin Evans, Sholnn Freeman, Damien T. The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center preserves centuries of African and Frierson, M.S.W., Fern Gillespie, African-American history. Snapshots of history archived in the center include docu- Kerry-Ann Hamilton, Ph.D., Ron Harris, ments, photographs and objects that help piece together an often fragmented story. Shayla Hart, Melanie Holmes, Otesa Middleton Miles, Andre Nicholson, Ashley FImagine reading firsthand the words of Olaudah Equiano, a former slave whose 1789 Travers, Grace I. Virtue, Ph.D. narrative is one of the earliest known examples of published writings by an African writer. Moorland-Spingarn holds at least one copy of the eight editions, including CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS a signed version. Other relics include 17th-century maps, 18th- and 19th-century Ceasar, Kerry-Ann Hamilton, Ph.D., masks, hundreds of periodicals and 30,000 bound volumes on the African Diaspora. Marvin T. Jones, Justin D. Knight This jewel on the yard is a unique structure that attracts scholars from all over the world, providing access to treasures that educate and enlighten. -
Quantification of Developmental Birdsong Learning from The
Quantification of developmental birdsong learning from the subsyllabic scale to cultural evolution Dina Lipkind1 and Ofer Tchernichovski Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY 10065 Edited by Donald W. Pfaff, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, and approved February 4, 2011 (received for review August 31, 2010) Quantitative analysis of behavior plays an important role in bird- The genome of a songbird was sequenced earlier this year (12), song neuroethology, serving as a common denominator in studies motivated in part by the goal of discovering the genetic spanning molecular to system-level investigation of sensory-motor changes (as revealed by comparison with the chicken genome) conversion, developmental learning, and pattern generation in that led to the evolution of vocal learning. In contrast to auditory the brain. In this review, we describe the role of behavioral analysis learning (the ability to discriminate between sounds), vocal in facilitating cross-level integration. Modern sound analysis ap- learning (the ability to imitate complex sounds) is rare in nature, but in birds it probably evolved in three out of the 25–28 known proaches allow investigation of developmental song learning across – multiple time scales. Combined with novel methods that allow orders: songbirds, parrots, and hummingbirds (13 17). Aside experimental control of vocal changes, it is now possible to test from humans, vocal learning in mammals has been conclusively hypotheses about mechanisms of vocal learning. Further, song demonstrated only in dolphins, whales (18), and bats (19), but not in apes. Vocal learners share similar forebrain structures neces- analysis can be done at the population level across generations to sary to produce and acquire their learned vocalization (whether track cultural evolution and multigenerational behavioral processes. -
Proceedings, 1963
. 7^e 'putcvte *?&ime%& *£ rfm&Uca NATIONAL t/iCONVENTION S6PROCEEDINGS Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri THIRTY-FIVE YEARS . Developing Agriculture, Leadership, Citizenship and Patriotism October 9-11, 1963 NATIONAL FFA OFFICERS President, Kenny McMillan, Bushnell, Illinois Vice President, Jerry Diefenderfer, San Luis Obispo, California Vice President, Duane Leach, Winnebago, Minnesota Vice President, Richard Mottolo, Andover, Massachusetts Vice President, Larry Whittington, Angier, North Carolina Student Secretary, Vern France, Gooding, Idaho Advisor, A. W. Tenney, Office of Education, Washington, D. C. Executive Secretary, Wm. Paul Gray, Office of Education, Wash- ington, D. C. Treasurer, J. M. Campbell, State Board of Education, Richmond, Virginia NATIONAL FFA BOARD OF DIRECTORS A. W. Tenney, Office of Education, Washington, D. C. Harold F. Duis, Office of Education, Washington, D. C. M. C. Gaar, Office of Education, Washington, D. C. H. N. Hunsicker, Office of Education, Washington, D. C. E. J. Johnson, Office of Education, Washington, D. C. N. D. Andrew, State Director, Agricultural Education, Concord, New Hampshire J. G. Bryant, State Supervisor, Agricultural Education, Atlanta, Georgia C. C. Eustace, State Supervisor, Agricultural Education, Topeka, Kansas T. Horii, Program Specialist, Agricultural Education, Honolulu, Hawaii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page National Directors Inside Cover Introduction Ill TheFFAat35 V Official Delegates VII Convention Program IX Minutes of the 36th National Convention 13 Wednesday, October 9 13 Thursday, October 10 25 Friday, October 11 30 Convention Addresses: Ilus W. Davis 34 Donald N. McDowell 34 John H. Reed 35 Mary Ann Beyer 36 Diana Leonard 36 Herschel D. Newsom 37 J. W. Keener 37 Orville L. Freeman 38 Kenny McMillan 39 Robert L. -
Isochrony, Vocal Learning and the Acquisition of Rhythm and Melody - Andrea Ravignani in Press: Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Isochrony, vocal learning and the acquisition of rhythm and melody - Andrea Ravignani In press: Behavioral and Brain Sciences Isochrony, vocal learning and the acquisition of rhythm and melody Andrea Ravignani Comparative Bioacoustics Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, NL [email protected] ABSTRACT A cross-species perspective can extend and provide testable predictions for Savage et al.’s framework. Rhythm and melody, I argue, could bootstrap each other in the evolution of musicality. Isochrony may function as a temporal grid to support rehearsing and learning modulated, pitched vocalizations. Once this melodic plasticity is acquired, focus can shift back to refining rhythm processing and beat induction. Musicality consists of the lobster rattles to sea lion barks: Patek & (neuro)biological underpinnings to perceive Caldwell, 2006; Schusterman, 1977), and produce music. Research in the evolution autonomously-regulated behavior or of musicality needs cross-species evidence. As (neuro)physiology. Synchrony is widespread a parallel, to understand the evolution of bat but scattered across taxonomic groups wings, one asks why all other mammals lack (Ravignani et al., 2014; Wilson & Cook, 2016). wings and why other flying animals have Vocal learning is rare but potentially arose evolved them. Likewise, our species only multiple times in evolution due to different constitutes one datapoint to construct pressures across species (Nowicki & Searcy, evolutionary hypotheses on musicality. 2014; Garcia & Ravignani, 2020; Martins & Comparisons with other species are necessary Boeckx, 2020). Beat induction has only been to avoid post-hoc explanations of evolutionary found in a few animals, as acknowledged by traits. Savage and colleagues (Kotz et al., 2018; cf. -
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June 23, 1952, NIH Record, Vol. IV, No. 12
record PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE FEDERAL SECURITY AGENCY Vol. IV, No. 12 - 23 June 1952 NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH HIDDEN VALUES IN FEDERAL SERVICE Higher salaries in private indus try are not always pure profit for the ex-Federal employee. Hidden values obtained from Government service are often overlooked, states Warren B. Irons, Chief of the Re tirement Division, Civil Service Commission. Mr. Irons refers specifically to the value of the protection provided by the Civil Service Retirement Act in three areas--survivorship protection, disability protection, and retirement benefits. In leaving Federal service, says Mr. Irons, perhaps the most seri ous loss is in survivorship protec NATIONAL INSTUTION FOR YORE HEALTH tion. The employee who leaves the Government before he is eligible to AI though the name of NTH was s 1 i i^ht ly jumbled, the boiler pic- retire, destroys all survivorship tared above was delivered with no problems. protection for his family. All that is payable upon his death is the re turn of his credit in the retirement LAB WORKERS PREVIEW McCULLOUGH NAMED fund. No monthly payments can be made to his family. NEW FILMSTRIP SERIES TO NEW NMI POST A number of NIH laboratory Dr. Norman B. McCuUough was Another serious loss is in dis workers turned into film critics recently appointed Chief of Clinical ability protection. No worker who recently when they were called Research at N MI. becomes disabled is provided for upon to preview and judge two film- The newly established unit which rnore liberally than the Federal strips on laboratory training. Dr. -
Birds Have Primate-Like Numbers of Neurons in the Forebrain
Birds have primate-like numbers of neurons in the forebrain Seweryn Olkowicza, Martin Kocoureka, Radek K. Lucanˇ a, Michal Porteša, W. Tecumseh Fitchb, Suzana Herculano-Houzelc,d,1, and Pavel Nemec a,2 aDepartment of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, CZ-12844 Prague, Czech Republic; bDepartment of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria; cInstituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CEP 21941-902, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and dInstituto Nacional de Neurociência Translacional, Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia/Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas, CEP 04023-900, São Paulo, Brazil Edited by Dale Purves, Duke University, Durham, NC, and approved May 6, 2016 (received for review August 27, 2015) Some birds achieve primate-like levels of cognition, even though capacity? Not necessarily: it has recently been discovered that their brains tend to be much smaller in absolute size. This poses a the relationship between brain mass and number of brain neu- fundamental problem in comparative and computational neuro- rons differs starkly between mammalian clades (31). Avian science, because small brains are expected to have a lower brains seem to consist of small, tightly packed neurons, and it is information-processing capacity. Using the isotropic fractionator thus possible that they can accommodate numbers of neurons to determine numbers of neurons in specific brain regions, here that are comparable to those found in the much larger primate we show that the brains of parrots and songbirds contain on brains. However, to date, no quantitative data have been avail- average twice as many neurons as primate brains of the same able to test this hypothesis.