結(jié)婚良久的夫婦可以完成彼此的句子,，但安第斯山脈的素尾鷦鷯所做的又更進(jìn)了一步。
雄雌兩性的鷦鷯哼著親密的二重唱,，并在哼唱時(shí)如此快速地更迭著音節(jié),，使得其聽上去像是某單個(gè)的鳥在歌唱。
新的研究顯示,，雄雌兩性鷦鷯的腦子實(shí)際上在處理整個(gè)的二重唱,，而不只是每只鳥自己唱的部分。
這些發(fā)現(xiàn)令人驚訝,，因?yàn)檠芯咳藛T通常假設(shè),，每只鳴禽的腦部活動(dòng)會(huì)大體上致力于該鳥自己的歌唱角色。 Eric Fortune及其同事在鷦鷯歌唱的時(shí)候躲在厄瓜多爾安提薩那火山上的竹林中給其錄音,。
在分析這些錄音時(shí),，研究人員了解到，雌鳥似乎為該歌唱進(jìn)行定時(shí),，而雄鳥,，但非雌鳥，會(huì)在歌唱時(shí)偶爾犯錯(cuò),。
接下來(lái),，研究人員在重放這些鳥的二重唱以及獨(dú)唱錄音時(shí)記錄了這些鳥在此期間其腦部的歌唱中心的活動(dòng)。 其腦部神經(jīng)元對(duì)二重唱的反應(yīng)最為強(qiáng)勁,，表明其某些腦部回路—與人相同的—適合合作,。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
doi:10.1126/science.1209867
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PMID:
Neural Mechanisms for the Coordination of Duet Singing in Wrens
Eric S. Fortune, Carlos Rodríguez, David Li, Gregory F. Ball, Melissa J. Coleman
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.
