Birdsong: Is it music to their ears? Público
Earp, Sarah Elizabeth (2012)
Published
Abstract
Abstract
Birdsong: Is it Music to their Ears?
Is music uniquely human? This question has been debated among
musicians and scientists alike.
One example of a possible non-human form of music is birdsong,
which is believed by some to
be music, and perceived by others as simple animal vocalization.
Attempts to compare song to
music have usually focused on the qualities of the sound itself,
such as melody and rhythm. It
may be more informative, however, to compare the experiences of the
intended listeners.
Previous studies show that areas in the neural reward circuit,
including the nucleus accumbens
(nAc) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA) respond in humans
listening to pleasurable music. I
investigated whether a bird's experience of birdsong is similar to
the rewarding experience of
music listening in humans by exploring whether the nAc and VTA
respond in white-throated
sparrows listening to song. I studied neural responses of female
and male white-throated
sparrows ( Zonotrichia albicollis) exposed to either
courtship song or a control sound. Half of the
birds were treated with reproductive hormones to simulate the
breeding condition, and the others
were given a placebo and acted as controls. I looked at neural
responses by labeling the
immediate early gene (IEG) product Egr-1, which indicates new
protein synthesis in response to
a stimulus. Egr-1 expression was quantified in the nAc and the VTA.
I found that females in
breeding condition had a higher IEG response to song than to the
control sound, whereas the
females that were not in breeding condition and all males had
similar Egr-1 responses to song
and control sounds. Overall, my results suggest that birdsong is
like human music in that reward
circuits respond in the listener. In this seasonally breeding
songbird, that parallel can be drawn
only for females during the breeding season, when song is expected
to have positive valence.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................1
Comparing the Structures of Song and Music
..................................1
Comparing Responses in the
Listener...............................................4
Behavioral Responses to
Song....................................................4
Neural Responses to
Music.........................................................6
The Neural Reward
Circuit.........................................................6
Mapping Neural Responses
........................................................7
The Natural Function of Song: Study Predictions
............................9
Methods..........................................................................................................10
Experimental
Design..........................................................................10
Animals
..............................................................................................11
Study 1
...............................................................................................11
Hormone Treatment
....................................................................11
Sound Stimulus
...........................................................................12
Stimulus Presentation and Tissue Collection
..............................12
Histology
.....................................................................................13
Quantification of Egr-1
immunoreactivity...................................13
Statistical Analysis
......................................................................14
Study 2
..............................................................................................15
Hormone Manipulation
...............................................................15
Sound Stimuli
..............................................................................15
Data Collection and
Analysis.......................................................16
Study 3
...............................................................................................17
Results
......................................................................................................18
Study 1
..............................................................................................18
Study 2
...............................................................................................18
Study 3
...............................................................................................19
Discussion
......................................................................................................20
Summary of
Results...........................................................................20
Comparing Neural Responses in the Reward Circuit
........................21
Comparing Responses in the nAc: Anticipation of Reward?
......22
Comparing Responses in the VTA
..............................................24
Comparing Neural Responses Outside of the Reward
Circuit...........24
Hypothalamus
..............................................................................25
Caudate Nucleus and
Striatum.....................................................26
Amygdala.....................................................................................27
Hippocampus
...............................................................................28
Overview: Comparing Neural
Responses..........................................28
Sex, Hormonal State, and Social
Context..........................................29
Neural Responses in the
Performer....................................................31
Conclusion
.........................................................................................32
References
......................................................................................................33
Table 1
......................................................................................................51
Figure 1
......................................................................................................52
Figure 2
......................................................................................................53
Figure 3
......................................................................................................54
Figure 4
......................................................................................................55
Figure 5
......................................................................................................56
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