During sleep, we can sporadically find patterns of neural activity in areas of the bird's brain that are activated during song production. Recently, it was found that patterns of activity during these silent plays can be detected in the vocal muscles of sleeping birds. In a new study, researchers from the University of Buenos Aires and CONICET employed a dynamic systems model for song production in suborder birds. Tyrani This is to convert the vocal muscle activity during sleep into a synthetic song.
Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulfuratus) July 2011, Beeville, Texas, USA. Image credit: Tess Thornton / CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed.
“Dreams are one of the most intimate and elusive parts of our existence,” said Dr. Gabriel Mindlin, senior author of the study.
“It's very moving to know that we share something with species so far away. And the possibility of entering the mind of a dreaming bird – of hearing the sounds of its dreams. is a temptation that cannot be resisted.”
A few years ago, Dr. Mindlin and his colleagues discovered that these patterns of neuronal activity were transmitted to the syringe muscle, the bird's vocal organ.
They are able to capture sleeping birds' muscle activity data via recording electrodes called electromyograms and convert it into a synthetic song using a dynamical systems model.
“For the past 20 years, I have been studying the physics of bird calls and how muscular information is translated into calls,” Dr. Mindlin said.
“In this way, we can use the muscle activity patterns as time-dependent parameters in a bird song production model and synthesize the corresponding song.”
Trill electromyographic activity recorded during sleep and synthetic sounds generated by a dynamic model.Image credit: Doppler other., doi: 10.1063/5.0194301.
Many birds have complex muscle structures, so translating syringe activity into calls is a bit difficult.
“For this first piece, we chose Wonderful Kiskadi (Pitangus sulfuratus)“It's a member of the flycatcher family, a species for which we recently discovered the physical mechanism of its song and showed some simplifications,” Dr. Mindlin said.
“In other words, we selected species for which the first steps of this program were viable.”
The authors heard the sound emerge from the data of birds dreaming of territorial battles by raising the tops of their wings, a gesture reminiscent of calls used during daytime conflicts. I was incredibly moved.
“Imagining that lonely bird reenacting its territorial battles in my dreams really resonated with me. We have more in common with other species than we often realize.” said Dr. Mindlin.
This study presents biophysics as a new exploratory tool that can open the door to the quantitative study of dreams.
“We are interested in interacting with dreaming birds using these syntheses that can be implemented in real time,” Dr. Mindlin said.
“And for species that learn, to address questions about the role of sleep during learning.”
of study It was published in the magazine chaos.
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Juan F. Doppler other. 2024. Bird dream synthesis was featured. chaos 34 (4): 043103; doi: 10.1063/5.0194301
Source: www.sci.news
