Experimental support for a model of birdsong production

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2003 Oct;68(4 Pt 1):041908. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.68.041908. Epub 2003 Oct 13.

Abstract

In this work we present an experimental validation of a recently proposed model for the production of birdsongs. We have previously observed that driving the model with simple functions of time, which represent tensions in vocal muscles, produces a wide variety of sounds resembling birdsongs. In this work we drive the model with functions whose time dependence comes from recordings of muscle activities and air sac pressure. We simultaneously recorded the birds' songs and compared them with the synthetic songs. The model produces recognizable songs. Beyond finding a qualitative agreement, we also test some predictions of the model concerning the relative levels of activity in the gating muscles at the beginning and end of a syllable.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Air Sacs / physiology
  • Animals
  • Bronchi / physiology*
  • Computer Simulation
  • Electromyography / methods
  • Models, Biological*
  • Muscle Contraction / physiology
  • Muscle, Skeletal / physiology*
  • Songbirds / physiology*
  • Sound Spectrography / methods*
  • Speech Production Measurement
  • Trachea / physiology*
  • Vocalization, Animal / physiology*