Volitional control of vocalizations in corvid songbirds

Brecht, Katharina F.; Hage, Steffen R.; Gavrilov, Natalja; Nieder, Andreas

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000375

Cited by 24 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Corvids have large brains and sharp senses. They also live in complex social groups and show elaborate intraspecific communication [73] . They show a large array of complex behaviors: they can fly, walk, hunt, gather, communicate with conspecifics, and also use their beaks for the manipulation of their environment, including the use of crude tools [12] .…”

Section: Proposal Of a Novel Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards an interdisciplinary framework about intelligence

Palanca-Castan

Tajadura

Cofré

2021

Heliyon

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In recent years, advances in science, technology, and the way in which we view our world have led to an increasingly broad use of the term “intelligence”. As we learn more about biological systems, we find more and more examples of complex and precise adaptive behavior in animals and plants. Similarly, as we build more complex computational systems, we recognize the emergence of highly sophisticated structures capable of solving increasingly complex problems. These behaviors show characteristics in common with the sort of complex behaviors and learning capabilities we find in humans, and therefore it is common to see them referred to as “intelligent”. These analogies are problematic as the term intelligence is inextricably associated with human-like capabilities. While these issues have been discussed by leading researchers of AI and renowned psychologists and biologists highlighting the commonalities and differences between AI and biological intelligence, there have been few rigorous attempts to create an interdisciplinary approach to the modern problem of intelligence. This article proposes a comparative framework to discuss what we call “purposeful behavior”, a characteristic shared by systems capable of gathering and processing information from their surroundings and modifying their actions in order to fulfill a series of implicit or explicit goals. Our aim is twofold: on the one hand, the term purposeful behavior allows us to describe the behavior of these systems without using the term “intelligence”, avoiding the comparison with human capabilities. On the other hand, we hope that our framework encourages interdisciplinary discussion to help advance our understanding of the relationships among different systems and their capabilities.

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Section: Proposal Of a Novel Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards an interdisciplinary framework about intelligence

Palanca-Castan

Tajadura

Cofré

2021

Heliyon

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“…For example, nonhuman primates and other animals can produce alarm calls that are innate in their acoustic structure, but that are deployed in a contextually appropriate fashion (Nieder & Mooney, 2020; T. N. Suzuki & Zuberbühler, 2019;Wheeler & Fischer, 2012). Similarly, animals, including birds, can be trained to control their vocalizations in an experimental setting, by reinforcing the production of innate vocalizations in response to arbitrary cues to obtain food or water rewards (Brecht, Hage, Gavrilov, & Nieder, 2019;Hage & Nieder, 2013;Nieder & Mooney, 2020;Reichmuth & Casey, 2014). In relation to these prior findings, our results demonstrate a capacity to flexibly reorganize the sequencing of learned vocal elements, rather than select from a fixed set of innate vocalizations, in response to arbitrary cues.…”

Section: Flexible Control Of Vocalizationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Songbirds can learn flexible contextual control over syllable sequencing

Veit

Tian

Hernandez

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The flexible control of sequential behavior is a fundamental aspect of speech, enabling endless reordering of a limited set of learned vocal elements (i.e. syllables or words). Songbirds are phylogenetically distant from humans, but share the capacity for vocal learning as well as neural circuitry for vocal control that includes direct cortical-brainstem projections. Based on these similarities, we hypothesized that songbirds might likewise be able to learn flexible, moment-by-moment control over vocal production. Here, we demonstrate that Bengalese finches, which sing variable syllable sequences, can learn to rapidly modify the probability of specific sequences (e.g. ‘ab-c’ versus ‘ab-d’) in response to arbitrary visual cues. Moreover, once learned, this modulation of sequencing occurs immediately following changes in contextual cues and persists in the absence of external reinforcement. Our findings reveal a capacity in songbirds for learned contextual control over syllable sequencing that parallels aspects of human cognitive control over speech.

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“…In order to demonstrate ‘volitional control’, three criteria have to be fulfilled in unison ( Brecht et al, 2019 ; Nieder and Mooney, 2020 ). First, responses need to be executed in consequence of an arbitrary instruction stimulus that is neutral in its value or emotional valence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distinct neural networks for the volitional control of vocal and manual actions in the monkey homologue of Broca's area

Gavrilov

Nieder

2021

eLife

Self Cite

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The ventrolateral frontal lobe (Broca's area) of the human brain is crucial in speech production. In macaques, neurons in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, the suggested monkey homologue of Broca's area, signal the volitional initiation of vocalizations. We explored whether this brain area became specialized for vocal initiation during primate evolution and trained macaques to alternate between a vocal and manual action in response to arbitrary cues. During task performance, single neurons recorded from the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the rostroventral premotor cortex of the inferior frontal cortex predominantly signaled the impending vocal or, to a lesser extent, manual action, but not both. Neuronal activity was specific for volitional action plans and differed during spontaneous movement preparations. This implies that the primate inferior frontal cortex controls the initiation of volitional utterances via a dedicated network of vocal selective neurons that might have been exploited during the evolution of Broca’s area.

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Volitional control of vocalizations in corvid songbirds

Cited by 24 publications

References 67 publications

Towards an interdisciplinary framework about intelligence

Towards an interdisciplinary framework about intelligence

Songbirds can learn flexible contextual control over syllable sequencing

Distinct neural networks for the volitional control of vocal and manual actions in the monkey homologue of Broca's area

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