Doing the math for how songbirds learn to sing
Friday, December 21, 2012 - 00:00
in Biology & Nature
Scientists studying how songbirds stay on key have developed a statistical explanation for why some things are harder for the brain to learn than others, building the first mathematical model that uses a bird's previous sensorimotor experience to predict its ability to learn. Their results show that adult birds correct small errors in their songs more rapidly and robustly than large errors.