Vocal learning, the substrate for human language, is a rare trait found to date in only three
distantly related groups of mammals (humans, bats, and cetaceans) and three distantly …

Despite significant progress in understanding the evolution of the mammalian brain,
relatively little is known of the patterns of evolutionary change in the avian brain. In …

The voices of birds have always been a source of fascination. Nature's Music brings together
some of the world's experts on birdsong, to review the advances that have taken place in our …

Auditory information is critical for vocal imitation and other elements of social life in
songbirds. In zebra finches, neural centers that are necessary for the acquisition and …

The avian caudolateral neostriatum (NCL) was first identified on the basis of its dense
dopaminergic innervation. This fact and data from lesion studies have led to the notion that …

Here, we examine the connectivity of two previously identified telencephalic stations of the
auditory system of adult zebra finches, the neostriatal “shelf” that underlies the high vocal …

This article reviews the organization of the forebrain nuclei of the avian song system.
Particular emphasis is placed on recent physiologic recordings from awake behaving adult …

Auditory and vocal regulation of gene expression occurs in separate discrete regions of the
songbird brain. Here we demonstrate that regulated gene expression also occurs during …

Budgerigars have a complex vocal repertoire, some of which develops through learning.
The authors examined the course of vocal development in budgerigars from hatching to …

A feature of the telencephalic vocal control system in the budgerigar (Melopsittacus
undulatus) that has been hypothesized to represent a profound difference in organization …