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.