Neural mechanisms for the coordination of duet singing in wrens

Eric S. Fortune, Carlos Rodríguez, David Li, Gregory F. Ball, Melissa J. Coleman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

80 Scopus citations

Abstract

Plain-tailed wrens (Pheugopedius euophrys) cooperate to produce a duet song in which males and females rapidly alternate singing syllables. We examined how sensory information from each wren is used to coordinate singing between individuals for the production of this cooperative behavior. Previous findings in nonduetting songbird species suggest that premotor circuits should encode each bird's own contribution to the duet. In contrast, we find that both male and female wrens encode the combined cooperative output of the pair of birds. Further, behavior and neurophysiology show that both sexes coordinate the timing of their singing based on feedback from the partner and suggest that females may lead the duet.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)666-670
Number of pages5
JournalScience
Volume334
Issue number6056
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 4 2011
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

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