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Functional Anatomy of Forebrain Vocal Control Pathways in the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) a
Author(s) -
BRAUTH STEVEN E.,
HEATON JAMES T.,
SHEA STEPHEN D.,
DURAND SARAH E.,
HALL WILLIAM S.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1997.tb51933.x
Subject(s) - psychology , melopsittacus , library science , biology , computer science , zoology
Budgerigars throughout life are capable of learning to produce many different sounds including those of human speech. Like humans, budgerigars use multiple craniomotor systems and coordinate both orosensory and auditory feedback in specialized forebrain nuclei. Although budgerigar auditory-vocal learning has a different evolutionary origin from that of human speech, both the human and budgerigar systems can control F0 and can alter the distribution of energy in spectral bands by adjusting the filter properties of the vocal tract. This allows budgerigars to produce an extremely diverse array of calls including many broadband and highly complex sounds.