Auditory responses in avian vocal motor neurons: a motor theory for song perception in birds.
The hypoglossal motor neurons that innervate the vocal organ (syrinx) of the male zebra finch show a selective, long-latency (50-millisecond) response to sound. This response is eliminated by lesions to forebrain song-control nuclei. Different song syllables elicit a response from different syringeal motor neurons. Conspecific vocalizations may therefore be perceived as members of a set of vocal gestures and thus distinct from other environmental sounds. This hypothesis is an avian parallel to the motor theory of speech perception in humans.
D000818:Animals; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007002:Hypoglossal Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology*