生物谷報(bào)道：靈長(zhǎng)目的“鏡像”神經(jīng)元令某一個(gè)體能模仿另一個(gè)體的行為，因?yàn)楫?dāng)某一個(gè)體執(zhí)行或觀察某一特定動(dòng)作（如一個(gè)手勢(shì)）時(shí)，這些神經(jīng)元就會(huì)發(fā)射信號(hào),。一個(gè)很好的例子是聲音學(xué)習(xí),，如人類語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)和鳥(niǎo)類鳴叫的習(xí)得。這也許是“鏡像”神經(jīng)元的一種顯而易見(jiàn)的工作,，但此前一直沒(méi)有關(guān)于聽(tīng)覺(jué)—聲音“鏡像”神經(jīng)元的報(bào)道?，F(xiàn)在，對(duì)沼澤帶鹀（一種像人類一樣依靠聽(tīng)覺(jué)體驗(yàn)來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)聲音的鳥(niǎo)）所作的一項(xiàng)研究中,，一組專門進(jìn)行聽(tīng)覺(jué)—聲音監(jiān)測(cè)的前腦神經(jīng)元被識(shí)別了出來(lái),。這些神經(jīng)元對(duì)于一個(gè)給定的音符序列幾乎有同樣的反應(yīng)，而不管該音符序列是作為其歌曲的一部分“唱”出來(lái)的,，還是聽(tīng)另一只鳥(niǎo)“唱”出來(lái)的,。
英文原文：
Nature 451, 305-310 (17 January 2008) | doi:10.1038/nature06492; Received 10 October 2007; Accepted 19 November 2007
Precise auditory–vocal mirroring in neurons for learned vocal communication
J. F. Prather1, S. Peters2, S. Nowicki1,2 & R. Mooney1
Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center,
Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA
Correspondence to: R. Mooney1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to R.M. (Email: [email protected]).
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Abstract
Brain mechanisms for communication must establish a correspondence between sensory and motor codes used to represent the signal. One idea is that this correspondence is established at the level of single neurons that are active when the individual performs a particular gesture or observes a similar gesture performed by another individual. Although neurons that display a precise auditory–vocal correspondence could facilitate vocal communication, they have yet to be identified. Here we report that a certain class of neurons in the swamp sparrow forebrain displays a precise auditory–vocal correspondence. We show that these neurons respond in a temporally precise fashion to auditory presentation of certain note sequences in this songbird's repertoire and to similar note sequences in other birds' songs. These neurons display nearly identical patterns of activity when the bird sings the same sequence, and disrupting auditory feedback does not alter this singing-related activity, indicating it is motor in nature. Furthermore, these neurons innervate striatal structures important for song learning, raising the possibility that singing-related activity in these cells is compared to auditory feedback to guide vocal learning.
