Singing and moving to the rhythm: Song-entangled gestures in a vocal-learning songbird
When humans speak, we use rhythmic hand and head gestures that are closely coordinated with the temporal structure of speech to emphasize words and phrases. Similarly, human singing is often accompanied by rhythmic body movements that are aligned with the timing and prosodic structure of the vocal sequence. This rhythmic synchronization of bodily gesture with vocal production is thought to be a…
The rhythm of speech and gesture often go hand-in-hand in humans, with synchronized hand and head movements enhancing the meaning of words and phrases. Humans who sing also frequently accompany their vocal performances with rhythmic body movements that match the timing and prosody of the song. This synchronization of bodily gestures with vocal production is believed to be a common trait among species capable of vocal learning.
The ways in which these sensorimotor systems develop, coordinate, and synchronize to facilitate complex communication remain largely unknown. Currently, no animal model exists that entirely mirrors the human combination of speech and co-speech gestures.
Researchers have now uncovered that a vocal-learning songbird, the zebra finch, possesses the ability to develop and perform song-entrained head gestures. These gestures rhythmically align with intricate song syllables and are developed and executed independently of other innate, stereotyped song-entangled courtship displays. Even when the song remains relatively unchanged, the co-song gestures can be dynamically adjusted in terms of rhythm, form, and/or intensity across various social contexts.
The precise alignment of these gestures with the song requires auditory feedback, is regulated by a specific premotor song nucleus, and gradually emerges during the critical period of vocal learning.
Females exhibit different responses when songs and co-song gestures are out of sync, indicating that the gestures may serve a social purpose. The ability to dynamically modulate co-song gestures offers a unique behavioral window into the brain and cognitive processes involved in the fine-tuning of multimodal communication systems.
As such, the zebra finch emerges as a promising model for investigating the underlying mechanisms of rhythmic synchronization in multi-sensorimotor systems and the evolutionary origins of co-speech gestures in humans.
Written by urgent.news from bioRxiv's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
