A procedure for an automated measurement of song similarity

Tchernichovski, Ofer; Nottebohm, Fernando; Ho, Ching Elizabeth; Pesaran, Bijan; Mitra, Partha P.

doi:10.1006/anbe.1999.1416

Cited by 681 publications

(771 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…An example of a vPFC neuron's response to these exemplars is shown in figure 1. Importantly, since the mean Wiener entropy (Tchernichovski et al 2000;i.e. a measure of the spectrotemporal structure of an auditory stimulus) of the food and non-food SSVs were not reliably different (t-test, pO0.05), differences in neural activity in response to SSVs from these two classes cannot be solely attributed to differences in their acoustics.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spontaneous processing of abstract categorical information in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex

2006

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In various aspects of linguistic analysis and human cognition, some forms of observed variation are ignored in the service of handling more abstract categories. In the absence of training, rhesus discriminate between different types of vocalizations based on the information conveyed as opposed to their acoustic morphologies. We hypothesized that neurons in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vPFC), an area involved in auditory-object processing, might be involved in this spontaneous categorization. To test this hypothesis, we recorded vPFC activity while rhesus listened to vocalizations conveying information about food and non-food events. Results showed between, but not within category discrimination. That is, vPFC neurons discriminated between vocalizations associated with food versus non-food events but not within the class of food calls associated with differences in quality. These results indicate that the vPFC plays a significant role in spontaneously processing abstract categorical information.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spontaneous processing of abstract categorical information in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex

2006

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“…Finally, in an effort to score our songs more analytically, we used a f ully automated song comparison procedure described recently by Tchernichovski et al (2000) to assess intact-song stereotypy. This procedure compares two digitized sounds on the basis of four features: Wiener entropy, spectral continuity, pitch, and frequency modulation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This procedure was developed, initially, to compare the degree of similarity between the song of a tutor and that of its pupil. In this context, measures of overall similarity between songs using visual scoring by humans and that by the automated algorithm are comparable (Tchernichovski et al, 2000). However, the automated algorithm is better suited for measuring the degree of variability that might be present in successive repetitions of a same-song motif, which is why we used it to obtain a measure of stereotypy.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To obtain a finer-grained measure of song degradation, we measured the duration of clearly discernible chunks of song, identified either by silent intervals on either side or by homology to previous recordings, preoperatively and at various later intervals. These measurements took advantage of a spectral derivative visual display of song (Tchernichovski et al, 2000) to visualize chunks. The time span over which this analysis could be done depended very much on the rate of deterioration of song structure, which was particularly steep in the young birds.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Graph of song stereotypy as a function of age in intact adults. Stereotypy here was measured using the song analysis algorithm developed by Tchernichovski et al (2000) (see Materials and Methods). Each bird was scored on the variability it showed in repeating 15-25 renditions of its song motif.…”

Section: Same-day Song Stereotypy In Intact Young and Old Adultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age at Deafening Affects the Stability of Learned Song in Adult Male Zebra Finches

2000

Self Cite

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Male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) master the imitation of a song model 80-90 d after hatching and retain it with little change for the rest of their lives. Acquisition and maintenance of this imitation require intact hearing. A previous report showed that male zebra finches deafened as adults start to lose some of the acoustic and temporal features of their song a few weeks after deafening and that by 16 weeks the learned song is severely degraded (Nordeen and Nordeen, 1992). However, this previous study noted no correlation between the age at deafening and the subsequent timing and extent of song loss. We deafened adult male zebra finches ranging in age from 81 d to 6 years. The song of birds deafened at the younger ages (81-175 d) deteriorated severely after a few weeks, and within that age bracket, the older the bird was at deafening, the longer it took for this degradation to occur and the slower the subsequent process of song deterioration. The song of birds deafened at 2 years and older showed little change during the first 51 weeks after deafening but was grossly altered by 100 weeks. We suggest (1) that this age effect could be independent of experience or (2) that each time a bird sings, a little bit of learning-motor engrainment-occurs, adding to memory duration in a cumulative manner.

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Neural Control of Birdsong

Schmidt

2009

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences

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Birdsong is a learned behaviour that displays a remarkable level of acoustic and temporal complexity. It is controlled by a well‐defined neural circuit, known as the song system, which receives highly processed auditory information from specialized higher‐order auditory areas. Over the past decade, sophisticated new song analysis tools coupled with the ability to record from identified neurons in adult and juvenile singing birds have revealed many fundamental insights into the neural mechanisms that underlie vocal production, storage of auditory memories and sensorimotor learning. Some of these include an understanding of how sleep drives song acquisition and how circuits homologous to the mammalian basal ganglia generate the motor variability that enables sensorimotor learning. The tractable nature of this system coupled with its shared similarities with human speech make birdsong a unique model for understanding the neural bases of vocal production and learning. Key Concepts: Sophisticated new methodologies in song quantification have made it possible to provide quantitative descriptions of the entire vocal imitation process in juvenile birds. Storage of the song template likely occurs in specialized higher‐order auditory forebrain areas rather than in the song system proper. The song system is a specialized neural circuit that is necessary for song production and sensorimotor learning. Neurons that form part of the descending motor pathway produce short (approximately 5 ms) bursts of action potentials that are precisely time locked to specific time segment of the song. The portion of the song system necessary for song production is organized as a recurrent pathway with structures in the thalamus and respiratory brainstem projecting back up to the forebrain. Neural variability from the basal ganglia circuit onto RA is thought to contribute to the observed motor variability in juvenile birds and likely enables the motor exploration strategy that is critical for song learning in juveniles. Sleep plays a critical role in vocal learning by allowing offline processing of sensory and motor information.

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A procedure for an automated measurement of song similarity

Cited by 681 publications

References 24 publications

Spontaneous processing of abstract categorical information in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex

Spontaneous processing of abstract categorical information in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex

Age at Deafening Affects the Stability of Learned Song in Adult Male Zebra Finches

Neural Control of Birdsong

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