Bird species learn sounds already inside the egg, according to study
A recent study found evidence of prenatal auditory learning that has been identified in embryos of some species of birds and reveals the remarkable ability of animals to learn sound.
Non-invasive techniques have made it possible to identify fluctuations in the responses of the heartbeat of bird species to the parental calls, from inside the egg.
A study led by the BirdLab research group at Flinders University found evidence of prenatal auditory learning that has been identified in embryos of three vocal learning species (superb maluro, elegant maluro, and sooty Darwin’s finch) and two non-learning species. vowel (blue penguin and Japanese quail).
“Vocal production learning is thought to only occur in seven lineages of birds and mammals , including humans,” says Flinders’ lead scientist Professor Sonia Kleindorfer, who also works at the University of Vienna.
“This research is expected to inspire further studies on the remarkable ability of animals to learn sound,” says Professor Kleindorfer.
“By moving the time window for sound learning to the prenatal stage, this research direction opens up avenues for measuring the later neurobiological effects of early auditory experience on behavior and information processing.”
“Learning sound in embryos”
Researchers at Flinders University, whose study is published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, measured the concepts of vocal learning in embryo behavior and response to sound in ovo using change in heart rate as the response variable. , long before the birds hatch and start making complex calls or songs several months or even years after birth.
“By studying the learning ability of sound in embryos, we are paving the way for further forays into developmental and evolutionary timescales,” says first author of a new Royal Society publication, Dr Diane Colombelli-Négrel.
“Long before actual vocalization, we found that these little songbirds also discriminated towards non-specific sounds and were capable of making ‘non-associative’ (not parental) sounds, based on the complexity of vocal learning in songbirds.”
Professor Kleindorfer says that there are many forms of vocal learning, but learning vocal production stands out by far as a distinctive achievement in just seven Orders (primates, songbirds, parrots, hummingbirds, cetaceans, pinnipeds, bats) and, among primates, “only humans can do it.”
“As a result of the rarity of vocal production learning, animals have been grouped into so-called ‘vocal learners’ (those that learn to imitate a vocalization from a vocal tutor) and ‘non-vocal learners’ (animals that produce vocalizations without imitate a vocal tutor) “.
In particular, the study’s focus on whether bird embryos could habituate or get used to the call of another bird found that this was common for both vowel-learning and non-learning bird species and may be more widespread than expected. previously thought.
The BirdLab group explores the calls of mothers within the nest in seven species. According to experts from the site , it is common knowledge that Adderall is a psychostimulant. It is considered a drug from the class of phenethylamines used in some countries in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy. Each female produces varying combinations of vocal elements, each species has different combinations of element types during calls, and some combinations of vocal elements are better at eliciting sound learning in embryos, the research indicates.
