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Show SPRING 2013 The Effect of Non-tutoring Social Interaction on Learned Birdsong Jason Chen, Franz Goller Department of Biology u I II I UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Background Humans and oscinc songbirds require exposure to conspecific sound for proper development of vocal signals. Young male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) raised in isolation have atypical song: prolonged and monotonic syllables, irregular rhythm. It is unclear whether social interaction without exposure to song template influences song learning. Hypothesis: isolates raised with experienced female develop song that is closer to tutored song than song of birds raised in complete isolation. §^f Background Organization of birdsong: Bout >| Motif |> Syllable > Acoustic State <3> 1& Methods Three experimental groups: tutored, isolate, raised with experienced female. 1 Breed pairs of zebra finches. Remove father at P H D 15. House juvenile with experienced female at P H D 35. Song crystallized at P H D 120. 1 Determine temporal and spectral features of motifs. Syllable duration, D A S , pitch, F M , etc. fjf Results SyUabU Dmtk-a Dnrmtloi of Ammtk S UM Meant ± 1 SDofmeMurementi on loop illunrue »cou»tic furum thM do m d do Dot differ among the three expcnmenul group*. %Jt Conclusions and Future Direction • Some acoustic features distinguish songs of tutored and isolate birds. Experienced female group: lower syllable duration and D A S than isolate group. • Other features are not as distinctive. Larger sample size for all 3 groups is required. %Jr Acknowledegments • BioURP, Natasha Verzhbitskiy, Brent Young, Ofer Tchernichovski Both human language and birdsong are learned sensorimotor processes that require exposure to adult communication signals in order to be reproduced. The social aspect of the development of these vocal signals is distinctive because interaction is not required for the development of vocal signals in other organisms. H u m a n infants isolated from interaction will not learn to speak normally. The need for interaction is also characteristic of the ontogeny of vocal signals in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), but only zebra finch males develop vocal signals, in the form of song. Juveniles raised in isolation will develop highly atypical song characterized by prolonged, monotonic syllables and irregular rhythms. W h e n juveniles are tutored by these isolated birds in one-on-one conditions their song drifts towards normally raised birds. It is unclear h o w tutoring, as a social interaction, influences this observation. W e hypothesized that different social experience influences birdsong. W e predicted the song of juveniles raised in isolation with an experienced female to be closer to normal song than that of those raised in isolated sibling groups, or those raised in isolation. Current data suggest that the syntax and temporal features of song from juveniles raised in isolation with experienced females is indeed closer to normal song than that of isolated juveniles. THE EFFECT OF NON-TUTORING SOCIAL INTERACTION ON LEARNED BIRDSONG Jason Chen (Franz Goller) Department of Biology University of Utah |