Formant Modification through Vocal Production Learning in Gray Seals

Stansbury, Amanda L.; Janik, Vincent M.

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.05.071

Cited by 41 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…This imitative ability is not limited to one seal. Stansbury & Janik [79] trained grey seals to match sequences of musical notes or to match formant frequencies of human vowel sounds, using a careful design to make sure that acoustic features of the copies did not appear in the pre-exposure repertoire of the subjects and were not part of the normal grey seal repertoire in the wild. Reichmuth & Casey [80] also review other evidence for vocal learning in seals, sea lions and walruses.…”

Section: Evidence For Complex Vocal Learning In Non-human Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A taxonomy for vocal learning

Tyack

2019

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Humans and songbirds learn to sing or speak by listening to acoustic models, forming auditory templates, and then learning to produce vocalizations that match the templates. These taxa have evolved specialized telencephalic pathways to accomplish this complex form of vocal learning, which has been reported for very few other taxa. By contrast, the acoustic structure of most animal vocalizations is produced by species-specific vocal motor programmes in the brainstem that do not require auditory feedback. However, many mammals and birds can learn to fine-tune the acoustic features of inherited vocal motor patterns based upon listening to conspecifics or noise. These limited forms of vocal learning range from rapid alteration based on real-time auditory feedback to long-term changes of vocal repertoire and they may involve different mechanisms than complex vocal learning. Limited vocal learning can involve the brainstem, mid-brain and/or telencephalic networks. Understanding complex vocal learning, which underpins human speech, requires careful analysis of which species are capable of which forms of vocal learning. Selecting multiple animal models for comparing the neural pathways that generate these different forms of learning will provide a richer view of the evolution of complex vocal learning and the neural mechanisms that make it possible.This article is part of the theme issue ‘What can animal communication teach us about human language?’

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Section: Evidence For Complex Vocal Learning In Non-human Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For animals that can be held in a managed setting, experiments that train subjects for imitation of carefully constructed stimuli such as those of Richards et al . [13] and Stansbury & Janik [79] represent an important method for testing for complex vocal learning by imitation.…”

Section: Evidence For Complex Vocal Learning In Non-human Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A taxonomy for vocal learning

Tyack

2019

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…The values reported here fall within the expected range for the seal's developmental stage. 1 If volumetric information was not available, but weight measurements were, we converted the weight measurements to volume measurements based on the conversion rules found in [27].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroanatomy of the grey seal brain: bringing pinnipeds into the neurobiological study of vocal learning

Hoeksema

Verga

Mengede

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Comparative studies of vocal learning and vocal non-learning animals can increase our understanding of the neurobiology and evolution of vocal learning and human speech. Mammalian vocal learning is understudied: most research has either focused on vocal learning in songbirds or its absence in non-human primates. Here we focus on a highly promising model species for the neurobiology of vocal learning: grey seals. We provide a neuroanatomical atlas (based on dissected brain slices and magnetic resonance images), a labelled MRI template, a 3D model with volumetric measurements of brain regions, and histological cortical stainings. Four main features of the grey seal brain stand out. (1) It is relatively big and highly convoluted. (2) It hosts a relatively large temporal lobe and cerebellum, structures which could support developed timing abilities and acoustic processing. (3) The cortex is similar to humans in thickness and shows the expected six-layered mammalian structure. (4) Expression of FoxP2 - a gene involved in vocal learning and spoken language - is present in deeper layers of the cortex. Our results could facilitate future studies targeting the neural and genetic underpinnings of mammalian vocal learning, thus bridging the research gap from songbirds to humans and non-human primates.

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“…The list of strong mammalian vocal learners is notably skewed towards species whose evolutionary path has placed particular constraints on respiratory motor control. VPL is most abundantly observed among aquatic mammals including cetaceans (Noad et al 2000;King and Sayigh 2013;Janik 2014) and pinnipeds (Ralls et al 1985;Ravignani et al 2016;Stansbury and Janik 2019) which must coordinate breathing with bouts of diving to manage the supply of oxygen, buoyancy, and ambient ocean pressure (Kooyman 1973;Roos et al 2016;Lillie et al 2017). Some species of elephants have demonstrated vocal production learning (Poole et al 2005;Stoeger et al 2012), which may be related to the unique demands of respiratory snorkelling (West 2001) as well as the possibly aquatic ancestry of these species (Gaeth et al 1999).…”

Section: Selective Pressures On Respiratory Motor Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human larynx motor cortices coordinate respiration for vocal-motor control

Belyk¹,

Brown²,

Beal³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Vocal flexibility is a hallmark of the human species, most particularly the capacity to speak and sing. This ability is supported in part by the evolution of a direct neural pathway linking the motor cortex to the brainstem nucleus that controls the larynx ¬– the primary sound source for communication. Early studies demonstrated that a larynx motor area at the dorsal end of the orofacial division of motor cortex (dLMC) integrated laryngeal and respiratory control, thereby coordinating two major muscular systems that are necessary for vocalization. Neurosurgical studies have since demonstrated the existence of a second larynx motor area at the ventral extent of the orofacial motor division (vLMC) of motor cortex. This dual motor representation of the larynx is notably unique to humans, though it is not known what these two larynx motor areas contribute separately to voice motor control. We localized the dorsal and ventral larynx motor cortices by having participants sing worldess melodies while undergoing ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging and tested the involvement of respiratory motor control in the same regions by having participants whistle simple melodies. Surprisingly, both singing and whistling increased activation of both larynx areas despite the lack of involvement of the larynx during whistling. These findings demonstrate that both larynx-controlling regions participate in respiratory motor control in addition to laryngeal motor control, since singing and whistling share exhalation as a common source of mechanical power for sound production. The integration of laryngeal and respiratory motor control may be an adaptation that has supported the evolution of speech in humans.

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Formant Modification through Vocal Production Learning in Gray Seals

Cited by 41 publications

References 54 publications

A taxonomy for vocal learning

A taxonomy for vocal learning

Neuroanatomy of the grey seal brain: bringing pinnipeds into the neurobiological study of vocal learning

Human larynx motor cortices coordinate respiration for vocal-motor control

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