Neural and hormonal substrates for song learning in zebra finches

Abstract

Many songbirds learn vocal sounds used to communicate with other members of their species during a restricted period of development. For example, male zebra finches (Poephila guttata) need to hear their father's song until approximately 40 days of age in order to learn to produce normal vocalizations. By the time they are fully adult (100 days of age), the song pattern they produce is a faithful copy of the song heard earlier in life, and this song pattern is maintained in a highly stereotyped fashion throughout adulthood. Song learning and behavior are controlled by a discrete system of neural circuits, which undergo profound developmental changes during the time when song behavior is being learned; both song learning and its neural substrate are regulated by sex hormones.