Researchers have mapped the long-range synaptic connections involved in vocal learning in zebra finches, uncovering new details about how the brain organizes learned vocalizations such as birdsong.

The study, published as a Reviewed Preprint in eLife, is described by the editors as having fundamental significance and compelling evidence clarifying how four distinct inputs to a specific region of the brain act on three distinct cell types to facilitate the learning and production of birdsong.

Understanding how the brain integrates sensory and motor information to guide learned vocalizations is crucial for studying both birdsong and human speech. The courtship song of male zebra finches is a well-studied example of a naturally learned behavior, and is controlled by a set of interconnected forebrain regions in the dorsal ventricular ridge (DVR)—the avian equivalent of the mammalian neocortex.