Recent theories of norepinephrine (NE) function suggest that NE modulates the transition
between stereotyped, goal-directed behavior and more variable, exploratory behaviors that …

Understanding how novel behaviors are learned remains a major challenge to modern
neuroscience. Acquiring and mastering fine motor skills, from dexterity in piano playing to …

Similar to human speech, bird song is controlled by several pathways including a cortico-
basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical (C-BG-TC) loop. Neurotoxic disengagement of the basal …

Predicting the nature of behavioral plasticity can provide insight into mechanisms of
behavioral expression and control. Songbirds like the zebra finch rely on vocal signals for …

Timing is a critical component of a wide range of sensorimotor tasks that can span from a
few milliseconds up to several minutes. While it is assumed that there exist several …

Birdsong is a unique model to address learning mechanisms of the timing control of
sequential behaviors, with characteristic temporal structures consisting of serial sequences …

Studies of avian vocal development without exposure to conspecific song have been
conducted in many passerine species, and the resultant isolate song is often interpreted to …

The plasticity of nervous systems allows animals to quickly adapt to a changing
environment. In particular, seasonal plasticity of brain structure and behavior is often critical …

Learning by imitation involves not only perceiving another individual's action to copy it, but
also the formation of a memory trace in order to gradually establish a correspondence …

During secondary contact between two species when hybrids are less fit than parents,
mating signals are expected to diverge, while aggressive signals are expected to converge …