What birdsong tells us about brain cells and learning

Date: February 19, 2020

Source: University of Chicago

Most scientists who study the brain believe that memories are stored through networks of synapses, or connections that form between neurons. Learning takes place as neurons form new connections and strengthen or weaken existing ones, giving the brain its so-called synaptic plasticity. There is growing evidence, however, that the intrinsic, built-in properties of the cells themselves, not just the connections between them, also play a role in this process.

New research by neuroscientists at the University of Chicago uses a unique model -- the intricate mating songs of birds -- to show how these intrinsic properties are closely tied to the complex processes of learning. The study, published in Nature Communications, could add a new layer of complexity to our understanding of the brain.

"We are able to go directly from the properties of the cells to the behavior of the animal," said Dan Margoliash, PhD, a neurobiologist and senior author of the new study. "This suggests that it's not just rapid changes at synapses that are driving learning and memory, but changes in the intrinsic properties of cells as well."

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Heritability explains fast-learning chicks

Date:  August 30, 2018

Source:  Linköping University

Summary:

Both genetic and environmental factors explain cognitive traits, shows a new study carried out on red junglefowl. Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have shown that the ability of fowl to cope with difficult learning tasks is heritable, while their optimism can be explained by environmental factors.

What determines how rapidly you learn? Or whether you are an optimist or pessimist? The mental processes that determine how an animal (or a human) learns, reasons and processes information are known by the general term cognition. How large is the heritable part, in other words what is explained by genes, and how much is explained by the environment? Research into the differences in cognitive ability of animals has mainly been comparative and has focused on differences between species. Less research has been on understanding variation that exists between individuals within a species.

"The question is growing in biology of why individuals within a species differ in such important traits as cognition. We therefore decided to estimate how much of the variation in cognition we see, that is heritable," says Hanne Løvlie, associate professor in the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology at Linköping University, and principal investigator for the study.

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How birds learn

Date:  August 13, 2018

Source:  ETH Zurich

Children are constantly learning new things, but whether they find it easy or hard to generalise what they have learned and apply it to new situations can depend on how they learned it. It is much the same for songbirds. In their first few months of life, they too must learn a great deal; for example, the characteristic song of their species. And like people, birds also learn in different ways. How these methods impact the ability to generalise was the subject of a study on zebra finches, conducted by a research team led by Richard Hahnloser, Professor at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich.

In their experiments, the researchers were able to show that zebra finches can learn by observing fellow members of their species. The birds had to learn through trial and error to discriminate between two classes of birdsong, one long and one short. Without any special preparation, the median number of repetitions it took for the birds to master the task was 4,700. But if the finches were able to observe other finches as they learned this task, then it took them just 900 repetitions. In this experimental set up and for statistical reasons, 800 repetitions are required in order to evaluate the animals' performance. This means that the observing birds mastered the task almost from the very beginning.

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Birds learn from each other's 'disgust,' enabling insects to evolve bright colors

Date:  December 18, 2017

Source:  University of Cambridge

Summary:

A new study of TV-watching great tits reveals how they learn through observation. Social interactions within a predator species can have 'evolutionary consequences' for potential prey, such as the conspicuous warning colors of insects like ladybirds.

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Pigeon power: Study suggests similarity between how pigeons learn the equivalent of words and the way children do

Date:

February 4, 2015

Source:

University of Iowa

Summary:

A new study finds pigeons can categorize 128 photographs into 16 categories of natural and humanmade objects, a skill researchers say is similar to the mechanism children use to learn words.

In a new study from the University of Iowa, researchers found that pigeons can categorize and name both natural and humanmade objects--and not just a few objects. These birds categorized 128 photographs into 16 categories, and they did so simultaneously.

Ed Wasserman, UI professor of psychology and corresponding author of the study, says the finding suggests a similarity between how pigeons learn the equivalent of words and the way children do.

"Unlike prior attempts to teach words to primates, dogs, and parrots, we used neither elaborate shaping methods nor social cues," Wasserman says of the study, published online in the journal Cognition. "And our pigeons were trained on all 16 categories simultaneously, a much closer analog of how children learn words and categories."

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What songbirds tell us about how we learn

Date:

April 8, 2014

Source:

McGill University

Summary:

When you throw a wild pitch or sing a flat note, it could be that your basal ganglia made you do it. This area in the middle of the brain is involved in motor control and learning. And one reason for that errant toss or off-key note may be that your brain prompted you to vary your behavior to help you learn, from trial-and-error, to perform better. But how does the brain do this, how does it cause you to vary your behavior?

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