A statistical method for quantifying songbird phonology and syntax.

Full Abstract

Songbirds are the preeminent animal model for understanding how the brain encodes and produces learned vocalizations. Here, we report a new statistical method, the Kullback-Leibler (K-L) distance, for analyzing vocal change over time. First, we use a computerized recording system to capture all song syllables produced by birds each day. Sound Analysis Pro software [Tchernichovski O, Nottebohm F, Ho CE, Pesaran B, Mitra PP. A procedure for an automated measurement of song similarity. Anim Behav 2000;59:1167-76] is then used to measure the duration of each syllable as well as four spectral features: pitch, entropy, frequency modulation, and pitch goodness. Next, two-dimensional scatter plots of each day of singing are created where syllable duration is on the x-axis and each of the spectral features is represented separately on the y-axis. Each point in the scatter plots represents one syllable and we regard these plots as random samples from a probability distribution. We then apply the standard information-theoretic quantity K-L distance to measure dissimilarity in phonology across days of singing. A variant of this procedure can also be used to analyze differences in syllable syntax.

Author information

Author/s: Wu, Wei (W); Thompson, John A (JA); Bertram, Richard (R); Johnson, Frank (F);

Affiliation: Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4330, USA. wwu(-atsign-)stat.fsu.edu

Grants: DC 008028 (Agency:NIDCD NIH HHS) ; DC 02035 (Agency:NIDCD NIH HHS) ; F31 DC008028-03 (Agency:NIDCD NIH HHS) ; R01 DC002035-06 (Agency:NIDCD NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: Journal of neuroscience methods (J Neurosci Methods), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Sep; vol 174 (issue 1) : pp 147-54

Dates: Created 2008/08/25; Completed 2008/11/06; Revised 2009/09/16;

PMID: 18674560, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 9/17/2009, IMS Date: 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00)

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