The role of auditory feedback in vocal learning and maintenance

Auditory experience is critical for the acquisition and maintenance of learned vocalizations in both humans and songbirds. Despite the central role of auditory feedback in vocal learning and maintenance, where and how auditory feedback affects neural circuits important to vocal control remain poorly understood. Recent studies of singing birds have uncovered neural mechanisms by which feedback perturbations affect vocal plasticity and also have identified feedback-sensitive neurons at or near sites of auditory and vocal motor interaction. Additionally, recent studies in marmosets have underscored that even in the absence of vocal learning, vocalization remains flexible in the face of changing acoustical environments, pointing to rapid interactions between auditory and vocal motor systems. Finally, recent studies show that a juvenile songbird's initial auditory experience of a song model has long-lasting effects on sensorimotor neurons important to vocalization, shedding light on how auditory memories and feedback interact to guide vocal learning.

► Feedback-sensing auditory and sensorimotor neurons have been detected in songbirds. ► Specific sensory-motor interfaces where feedback influences song remain enigmatic. ► Flexibility in innate vocalizations points to rapid auditory-vocal interactions. ► Early experience of acoustic models drives rapid changes in vocal premotor circuits. ► Song models and feedback might interact at premotor sites to guide vocal learning.