Honors Theses
Date of Award
2011
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Biology
First Advisor
Elaine Day
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
The cerebellum was originally thought to be a brain area used just for motor coordination, but it is now known to play a role in complex cognition. Some of these complex roles include aspects of human speech such as rhyming, silent rehearsal, and timing of speech. There are many similarities between human speech and songbird song including a babbling stage, the necessity of a tutor to copy, and specialized neural structures for learning and production; however, it is not clear whether the cerebellum plays a similar role in the songbird song circuit. In this experiment I examined the role of the cerebellum in the zebra finch song circuit. The song of male zebra finches is directed towards receptive females, and was recorded over several consecutive days. Surgeiy was then performed on the birds to disrupt the connection between the cerebellum and the rest of the brain. The songs were then recorded post surgery to deduce any cerebellum control on the song circuit. The results of the data show that after cerebellum lesion, birds were able to retain and faithfully reproduce their learned song; however their song had increased variability in its spectral qualities and additionally their song was longer in duration. These results are very similar to what is seen in humans with cerebellar dysarthria, which includes various deficiencies in speech that are seen after damage to the cerebellum. These data suggests that the cerebellum plays similar roles in the songbird song circuit, just as in human speech.
Recommended Citation
Digiusto, Matthew Gian, "The Role of the Cerebellum in the Zebra Finch Song Circuit" (2011). Honors Theses. 2200.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2200
Accessibility Status
Searchable text