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Sleeping birds might be proofing songs

Part of the song machinery in a bird’s brain gets more sensitive to sounds when the bird falls asleep, possibly reviewing the day’s music silently.

 

References:

Dave, A.S., A.C. Yu, and D. Margoliash. 1998. Behavioral state modulation of auditory activity in a vocal motor system. Science 282(Dec. 18):2250.

Williams, H., and F. Nottebohm. 1985. Auditory responses in avian vocal moter neurons: A motor theory for song perception in birds. Science 229:279.

Wilson, M.A., and B.L. McNaughton. 1994. Reactivation of hippocampal ensemble memories during sleep. Science 265(July 29):676.

 

Further Readings:

For a link to bird song libraries and ornithology resources, try http://www.princeton.edu/~shackles/splinks.html#recordings.

For more about zebra finches—from summaries of research on them to hints for keeping them as pets—try http://www.image.dk/~zebra/.

1996. Master songsters produce heartier kin. Science News 149(May 25):335.

1995. Do songbirds sing of Alzheimer’s? Science News 148(Aug. 26):139.

Adler, T. 1996. How songbirds get their tunes. Science News 149(May 4):280.

Catchpole, C.K., and P.J.B. Slater. 1995. Bird Song. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Milius, S. 1998. He sings Dad’s songs; she sings Mom’s. Science News 153(March 28):199.

Sources:

Mark Konishi
California Institute of Technology
Behavioral Biology 216-76
1200 East California Boulevard
Pasadena, CA 91125

Daniel Margoliash
University of Chicago
Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy
Committee on Neurobiology
1027 East 57th Street
Chicago, IL 60637

Heather Williams
Williams College
Biology Department
Williamstown, MA 01267

From Science News, Vol. 154, Nos. 25 & 26, December 19 & 26, 1998, p. 390. Copyright Ó 1998 by Science Service.

 

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