Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet - FNU - Flex those muscles: Motor shaping of vocal learning

Behavior as produced by muscle motion comprises the largest output of our brain,
but it is unknown how muscle performance limits motor learning of precise and
complex motor skills such as human speech and birdsong. Due to extraordinary
demands on vocal production, songbirds quickly learn to make their complex songs
using superfast muscles, the fastest muscles known. I am proposing an
unprecedented integrative approach to study how motor performance shapes
learning of complex motor skills across multiple levels of organization in songbirds
by causally linking gene regulation of molecular motors to whole-muscle
performance and song behavior. This proposal will have broad impact on the fields
of muscle physiology and transcriptomics, the neuromechanical control of complex
motor systems, the rapidly expanding birds

Behavior as produced by muscle motion comprises the largest output of our brain,
but it is unknown how muscle performance limits motor learning of precise and
complex motor skills such as human speech and birdsong. Due to extraordinary
demands on vocal production, songbirds quickly learn to make their complex songs
using superfast muscles, the fastest muscles known. I am proposing an
unprecedented integrative approach to study how motor performance shapes
learning of complex motor skills across multiple levels of organization in songbirds
by causally linking gene regulation of molecular motors to whole-muscle
performance and song behavior. As extreme function involves extreme
modifications, superfast vocal muscles provide unique opportunities to contribute to
our overall understanding of normal muscle functioning. This proposal will have
broad impact on the fields of muscle physiology and transcriptomics, the
neuromechanical control of complex motor systems, the rapidly expanding birdsong
community, and the evolution of vocal communication.