Editor's Summary
17 January 2008
Listen and learn
The 'mirror' neurons found in primates allow an individual to mimic or mirror another's behaviour, as they fire when a specific action, such as a hand gesture, is either performed or observed. A prime example of mimicry is vocal learning, as in human speech and birdsong. An obvious job for mirror neurons perhaps, but until now no auditory-vocal mirror neurons had been reported. Now, in a study of the swamp sparrow, a bird that resembles humans in its dependence on auditory experience to learn its vocal repertoire, a class of forebrain neurons specialized for auditory-vocal monitoring has been identified. They have virtually the same response to a given note sequence, whether performed or heard.
News and Views: Behavioural neuroscience: Neurons of imitation
In songbirds, a class of neurons shows a striking similarity in activity when the bird sings and when it hears a similar song. This mirroring neuronal activity could contribute to imitation.
Ofer Tchernichovski & Josh Wallman
doi:10.1038/451249a
Article: Precise auditory–vocal mirroring in neurons for learned vocal communication
J. F. Prather, S. Peters, S. Nowicki & R. Mooney
doi:10.1038/nature06492
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (822K) | Supplementary information