Songbirds can learn flexible contextual control over syllable sequencing
- Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, United States
Figures
Figure 1
Bengalese finches can learn context-dependent sequencing.
(A) Example spectrogram highlighting points in song with variable sequencing. Syllables are labeled based on their spectral structure, target sequences for the different experiments (ab-c and ab-d) …
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Figure 1—source data 1
Switch magnitude during baseline and after training for all birds, to generate Figure 1H, and plots like Figure 1F,G for all birds.
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/61610/elife-61610-fig1-data1-v1.mat
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Figure 1—source data 2
Sequence data for the example bird during single-context training, to generate Figure 1C,D.
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/61610/elife-61610-fig1-data2-v1.mat
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Figure 1—source data 3
Sequence data for the example bird during baseline, to generate Figure 1B.
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/61610/elife-61610-fig1-data3-v1.mat
Figure 2
Sequence probabilities shift immediately following a switch in context.
(A, B) Average sequence probability per song for example Bird 1 aligned to switches from green to yellow context (A) and from yellow to green context (B). Error bars indicate SEM across song bouts …
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Figure 2—source data 1
Switch magnitude between all contexts after training, to generate Figures 2C–F and 3E–H.
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/61610/elife-61610-fig2-data1-v1.mat
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Figure 2—source data 2
Summary of training data, to generate Figure 2L.
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/61610/elife-61610-fig2-data2-v1.mat
Figure 3 with 1 supplement
Contextual cues alone are sufficient to enable immediate shifts in syllable sequencing.
(A,B) Examples of songs sung by Bird 2 immediately before (A) and after (B) a switch from a yellow probe block to a green probe block (full song bouts in Figure 3—figure supplement 1). Scale for …
Figure 3—figure supplement 1
Example song bouts surrounding a probe–probe context switch.
Full song bouts (same as in Figure 3A,B) sung by Bird 2 immediately before and after a switch from a yellow probe block to a green probe block. Scale for x-axis is 1 s; y-axis shows frequency in Hz. …
Figure 4 with 1 supplement
Contextual changes are local to the target sequences.
(A) Transition diagram for the song of Bird 6 (spectrogram in Figure 1) in yellow probe context. Sequences of syllables with fixed transition patterns (e.g. ‘aab’) as well as repeat phrases and …
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Figure 4—source data 1
Overview of different experimental parameters and song features for each bird, to generate (Figure 4G, Figure 4—figure supplement 1).
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/61610/elife-61610-fig4-data1-v1.mat
Figure 4—figure supplement 1
Possible explanations for differences in contextual learning.
Correlations of the magnitude of contextual differences with the birds’ age (A), transition entropy of the entire song (B), transition entropy at the branch points preceding the target sequences (C),…
Figure 5
Contextual cues allow shifts in both directions.
(A) Sequence probability for Bird 2 at the switch from neutral context to yellow and green WN contexts, as well as yellow and green probe contexts (no WN). Error bars indicate SEM across song bouts …
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Figure 5—source data 1
Switch magnitude during third context experiment, to generate Figure 5B–D.
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/61610/elife-61610-fig5-data1-v1.mat
Author response image 1
Author response image 2
Additional files
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Source code 1
Matlab code to generate Figure 1.
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/61610/elife-61610-code1-v1.m.zip
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Source code 2
Matlab code to generate Figures 2C–F and 3E–H.
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/61610/elife-61610-code2-v1.m.zip
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Source code 3
Matlab code to generate Figure 2L.
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/61610/elife-61610-code3-v1.m.zip
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Source code 4
Matlab code to generate Figure 4G, Figure 4—figure supplement 1.
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/61610/elife-61610-code4-v1.m.zip
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Source code 5
Matlab code to generate Figure 5B–D.
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/61610/elife-61610-code5-v1.m.zip
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Transparent reporting form
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/61610/elife-61610-transrepform-v1.docx
