Precise changes in brain circuitry occur as young zebra finches go from listening to their fathers' courtship songs to knowing the songs themselves, according to a study led by neuroscientists at NYU Langone Medical Center and published online in a Science cover report on January 14. The study reveals how birds learn songs through observation and practice, and the authors hope the work will guide future research into how patients with brain injuries might reacquire the ability to learn skilled behaviors like speech.

"While we have known for decades that adolescent songbirds only learn their songs if exposed to a tutor, we believe our study is the first to detail changes innerve networks that make this mastery possible in maturing brains," says senior study investigator Michael Long, PhD.

"Our results show that finch song learning reflects a 'dance' inside the brain's vocal control center between nerve cells that capture information as the bird listens and those that direct muscle movement as it sings," says Long, an assistant professor of neuroscience at NYU Langone.

In the current study, led by Daniela Vallentin, PhD, and Georg Kosche in the NYU Neuroscience Institute, the research team found that early in adolescence, just listening to a father's song turns on the same brain cell networks that the young bird will use later to sing the song once learned.

A second result revolves around a set of nerve cells in the brain - inhibitory interneurons - which dampen the activity of surrounding nerves to sculpt sensory input into function. Researchers found that interneurons suppress the impact of each note in a father's song as soon as it is learned,"locking" it into the younger bird's memory piece by piece.

"Our research advances the understanding of how skilled behaviors are learned, and the role played by sensory inhibition in making memorized pattern spermanent," says Long. Such a framework, he says, could apply to complex behaviors in people, such as dancing or hitting a baseball.

1 finch

n.雀科鳴禽(如燕雀，金絲雀等)

參考例句：

? This behaviour is commonly observed amongseveral species of finch.這種行為常?？梢栽趲追N雀科鳴禽中看到。

?  In Australia,it is predominantly calledthe Gouldian Finch.在澳大利亞，它主要還是被稱之為胡錦雀。

2 investigator

n.研究者，調(diào)查者，審查者

參考例句：

? He was a special investigator for theFBI.他是聯(lián)邦調(diào)查局的特別調(diào)查員。

? The investigator was able to deduce thecrime and find the criminal.調(diào)查者能夠推出犯罪過程并鎖定罪犯。

3 vocal

adj.直言不諱的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]聲樂節(jié)目

參考例句：

? The tongue is a vocal organ.舌頭是一個(gè)發(fā)音器官。

? Public opinion at last became vocal.終于輿論嘩然。

4 adolescence

n.青春期，青少年

參考例句：

? Adolescence is the process of going fromchildhood to maturity.青春期是從少年到成年的過渡期。

? The film is about the trials andtribulations of adolescence.這部電影講述了青春期的麻煩和苦惱。

5 revolves

v.（使）旋轉(zhuǎn)(revolve的第三人稱單數(shù) )；細(xì)想

參考例句：

? The earth revolves both round the sun andon its own axis. 地球既公轉(zhuǎn)又自轉(zhuǎn)。來自《現(xiàn)代漢英綜合大詞典》

? Thus a wheel revolves on its axle. 于是，輪子在軸上旋轉(zhuǎn)。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》

6 sculpt

n.雕刻，雕塑，雕刻品，雕塑品

參考例句：

? When I sculpt,my style isexpressionistic.我的雕刻風(fēng)格是表現(xiàn)主義。

? Then,sculpt the remaining fringe parting.然后雕刻剩余的邊緣部分。

7 sensory

adj.知覺的，感覺的，知覺器官的

參考例句：

? Human powers of sensory discriminationare limited.人類感官分辨能力有限。

?  The sensory system may undergo long-termadaptation in alien environments.感覺系統(tǒng)對陌生的環(huán)境可能經(jīng)過長時(shí)期才能適應(yīng)。

8 input

n.輸入(物)；投入；vt.把(數(shù)據(jù)等)輸入計(jì)算機(jī)

參考例句：

? I will forever be grateful for hisconsiderable input.我將永遠(yuǎn)感激他的大量投入。

?  All this information had to be input ontothe computer.所有這些信息都必須輸入計(jì)算機(jī)。