Auditory Feedback and The Plasticity of Vocal Learning in Songbirds

Songbirds and humans both rely critically on auditory feedback for learning and maintaining accurate vocalizations. During vocal learning, juvenile songbirds learn to sing by using auditory feedback to match their variable song patterns to a memorized tutor model. During song maintaining, adult songbirds monitor the integrality and accuracy of its song on-line according to auditory feedback. This form of learning requires auditory-vocal integration. The output of songs and the information of auditory feedback are integrated in some areas of the bird's brain, and then direct next vocal activity. In recent years, the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum (LMAN) has been demonstrated that it is necessary for feedback-dependent song decrystallization, and LMAN neurons exhibit highly selective responses to auditory presentation of the bird's own song (BOS). Moreover, the discovery of mirror neurons in the high vocal centre (HVC) also provides a significant clue for further study in songbirds. Here the progress of auditory feedback and the plasticity of vocal learning in songbirds are reviewed in recent years.