Open AccessVocal learning and flexible rhythm pattern perception are linked: Evidence from songbirds
Author(s) -
Andrew A. Rouse,
Aniruddh D. Patel,
Mimi H. Kao
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2026130118
Subject(s) - rhythm , perception , vocal learning , psychology , auditory perception , songbird , stimulus (psychology) , communication , zebra finch , cognitive psychology , singing , neuroscience , biology , paleontology , philosophy , management , economics , aesthetics
Significance We can recognize the cadence of a friend’s voice or the rhythm of a familiar song across a wide range of tempi. This shows that our perception of temporal patterns relies strongly on the relative timing of events rather than on specific absolute durations. This tendency is foundational to speech and music perception, but to what extent is it shared by other species? We hypothesize that animals that learn their vocalizations are more likely to share this tendency. Here, we show that a vocal learning songbird robustly recognizes a basic rhythmic pattern independent of rate. Our findings pave the way for neurobiological studies to identify how the brain represents and perceives the temporal structure of auditory sequences.