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Sobroza TV, Gordo M, Dunn JC, Pequeno PACL, Naissinger BM, Barnett APA. Pied tamarins change their vocal behavior in response to noise levels in the largest city in the Amazon. Am J Primatol 2024; 86:e23606. [PMID: 38340360 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Revised: 01/14/2024] [Accepted: 01/27/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
Many animal species depend on sound to communicate with conspecifics. However, human-generated (anthropogenic) noise may mask acoustic signals and so disrupt behavior. Animals may use various strategies to circumvent this, including shifts in the timing of vocal activity and changes to the acoustic parameters of their calls. We tested whether pied tamarins (Saguinus bicolor) adjust their vocal behavior in response to city noise. We predicted that both the probability of occurrence and the number of long calls would increase in response to anthropogenic noise and that pied tamarins would temporally shift their vocal activity to avoid noisier periods. At a finer scale, we anticipated that the temporal parameters of tamarin calls (e.g., call duration and syllable repetition rate) would increase with noise amplitude. We collected information on the acoustic environment and the emission of long calls in nine wild pied tamarin groups in Manaus, Brazil. We found that the probability of long-call occurrence increased with higher levels of anthropogenic noise, though the number of long calls did not. The number of long calls was related to the time of day and the distance from home range borders-a proxy for the distance to neighboring groups. Neither long-call occurrence nor call rate was related to noise levels at different times of day. We found that pied tamarins decreased their syllable repetition rate in response to anthropogenic noise. Long calls are important for group cohesion and intergroup communication. Thus, it is possible that the tamarins emit one long call with lower syllable repetition, which might facilitate signal reception. The occurrence and quantity of pied tamarin' long calls, as well as their acoustic proprieties, seem to be governed by anthropogenic noise, time of the day, and social mechanisms such as proximity to neighboring groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tainara Venturini Sobroza
- Projeto Sauim-de-Coleira, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- Centro de Estudos Integrados da Biodiversidade Amazônica- CENBAM/PPBio de Pesquisa de Mamíferos Amazônicos, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- Grupo de Pesquisa de Mamíferos Amazônicos, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Conservação e Uso de Recursos Naturais, Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Boa Vista, Rondônia, Brazil
| | - Marcelo Gordo
- Projeto Sauim-de-Coleira, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Jacob C Dunn
- Department of Archaeology & Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | | | | | - Adrian Paul Ashton Barnett
- Grupo de Pesquisa de Mamíferos Amazônicos, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- Departamento de Zoologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual do Maranhão, São Luis, Maranhão, Brazil
- Department of Natural Sciences, Middlesex University, London, UK
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Zhang Y, Shen SX, Bibic A, Wang X. Evolutionary continuity and divergence of auditory dorsal and ventral pathways in primates revealed by ultra-high field diffusion MRI. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2313831121. [PMID: 38377216 PMCID: PMC10907247 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313831121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Auditory dorsal and ventral pathways in the human brain play important roles in supporting speech and language processing. However, the evolutionary root of the dual auditory pathways in the primate brain is unclear. By parcellating the auditory cortex of marmosets (a New World monkey species), macaques (an Old World monkey species), and humans using the same individual-based analysis method and tracking the pathways from the auditory cortex based on multi-shell diffusion-weighted MRI (dMRI), homologous auditory dorsal and ventral fiber tracks were identified in these primate species. The ventral pathway was found to be well conserved in all three primate species analyzed but extend to more anterior temporal regions in humans. In contrast, the dorsal pathway showed a divergence between monkey and human brains. First, frontal regions in the human brain have stronger connections to the higher-level auditory regions than to the lower-level auditory regions along the dorsal pathway, while frontal regions in the monkey brain show opposite connection patterns along the dorsal pathway. Second, the left lateralization of the dorsal pathway is only found in humans. Moreover, the connectivity strength of the dorsal pathway in marmosets is more similar to that of humans than macaques. These results demonstrate the continuity and divergence of the dual auditory pathways in the primate brains along the evolutionary path, suggesting that the putative neural networks supporting human speech and language processing might have emerged early in primate evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Zhang
- Laboratory of Auditory Neurophysiology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD21205
| | - Sherry Xinyi Shen
- Laboratory of Auditory Neurophysiology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD21205
| | - Adnan Bibic
- Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD21205
- Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, F. M. Kirby Center, Baltimore, MD21205
| | - Xiaoqin Wang
- Laboratory of Auditory Neurophysiology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD21205
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Zhao L, Wang X. Frontal cortex activity during the production of diverse social communication calls in marmoset monkeys. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6634. [PMID: 37857618 PMCID: PMC10587070 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42052-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Vocal communication is essential for social behaviors in humans and non-human primates. While the frontal cortex is crucial to human speech production, its role in vocal production in non-human primates has long been questioned. It is unclear whether activities in the frontal cortex represent diverse vocal signals used in non-human primate communication. Here we studied single neuron activities and local field potentials (LFP) in the frontal cortex of male marmoset monkeys while the animal engaged in vocal exchanges with conspecifics in a social environment. We found that both single neuron activities and LFP were modulated by the production of each of the four major call types. Moreover, neural activities showed distinct patterns for different call types and theta-band LFP oscillations showed phase-locking to the phrases of twitter calls, suggesting a neural representation of vocalization features. Our results suggest important functions of the marmoset frontal cortex in supporting the production of diverse vocalizations in communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lingyun Zhao
- Laboratory of Auditory Neurophysiology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
| | - Xiaoqin Wang
- Laboratory of Auditory Neurophysiology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
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Phaniraj N, Wierucka K, Zürcher Y, Burkart JM. Who is calling? Optimizing source identification from marmoset vocalizations with hierarchical machine learning classifiers. J R Soc Interface 2023; 20:20230399. [PMID: 37848054 PMCID: PMC10581777 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2023.0399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
With their highly social nature and complex vocal communication system, marmosets are important models for comparative studies of vocal communication and, eventually, language evolution. However, our knowledge about marmoset vocalizations predominantly originates from playback studies or vocal interactions between dyads, and there is a need to move towards studying group-level communication dynamics. Efficient source identification from marmoset vocalizations is essential for this challenge, and machine learning algorithms (MLAs) can aid it. Here we built a pipeline capable of plentiful feature extraction, meaningful feature selection, and supervised classification of vocalizations of up to 18 marmosets. We optimized the classifier by building a hierarchical MLA that first learned to determine the sex of the source, narrowed down the possible source individuals based on their sex and then determined the source identity. We were able to correctly identify the source individual with high precisions (87.21%-94.42%, depending on call type, and up to 97.79% after the removal of twins from the dataset). We also examine the robustness of identification across varying sample sizes. Our pipeline is a promising tool not only for source identification from marmoset vocalizations but also for analysing vocalizations of other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikhil Phaniraj
- Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology (IEA), University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ), University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pune 411008, India
| | - Kaja Wierucka
- Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology (IEA), University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
- Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Yvonne Zürcher
- Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology (IEA), University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Judith M. Burkart
- Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology (IEA), University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ), University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Affolternstrasse 56, 8050 Zürich, Switzerland
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Grijseels DM, Prendergast BJ, Gorman JC, Miller CT. The neurobiology of vocal communication in marmosets. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2023; 1528:13-28. [PMID: 37615212 PMCID: PMC10592205 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/25/2023]
Abstract
An increasingly popular animal model for studying the neural basis of social behavior, cognition, and communication is the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). Interest in this New World primate across neuroscience is now being driven by their proclivity for prosociality across their repertoire, high volubility, and rapid development, as well as their amenability to naturalistic testing paradigms and freely moving neural recording and imaging technologies. The complement of these characteristics set marmosets up to be a powerful model of the primate social brain in the years to come. Here, we focus on vocal communication because it is the area that has both made the most progress and illustrates the prodigious potential of this species. We review the current state of the field with a focus on the various brain areas and networks involved in vocal perception and production, comparing the findings from marmosets to other animals, including humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dori M Grijseels
- Cortical Systems and Behavior Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Brendan J Prendergast
- Cortical Systems and Behavior Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Julia C Gorman
- Cortical Systems and Behavior Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Cory T Miller
- Cortical Systems and Behavior Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
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Risueno-Segovia C, Dohmen D, Gultekin YB, Pomberger T, Hage SR. Linguistic law-like compression strategies emerge to maximize coding efficiency in marmoset vocal communication. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231503. [PMID: 37752844 PMCID: PMC10523061 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Human language follows statistical regularities or linguistic laws. For instance, Zipf's law of brevity states that the more frequently a word is used, the shorter it tends to be. All human languages adhere to this word structure. However, it is unclear whether Zipf's law emerged de novo in humans or whether it also exists in the non-linguistic vocal systems of our primate ancestors. Using a vocal conditioning paradigm, we examined the capacity of marmoset monkeys to efficiently encode vocalizations. We observed that marmosets adopted vocal compression strategies at three levels: (i) increasing call rate, (ii) decreasing call duration and (iii) increasing the proportion of short calls. Our results demonstrate that marmosets, when able to freely choose what to vocalize, exhibit vocal statistical regularities consistent with Zipf's law of brevity that go beyond their context-specific natural vocal behaviour. This suggests that linguistic laws emerged in non-linguistic vocal systems in the primate lineage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Risueno-Segovia
- Neurobiology of Social Communication, Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Hearing Research Centre, University of Tübingen, Medical Center, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Strasse 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Str. 25, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Graduate School of Neural & Behavioural Sciences - International Max Planck Research School, University of Tübingen, Österberg-Str. 3, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Deniz Dohmen
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Str. 25, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Graduate School of Neural & Behavioural Sciences - International Max Planck Research School, University of Tübingen, Österberg-Str. 3, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Yasemin B. Gultekin
- Neurobiology of Social Communication, Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Hearing Research Centre, University of Tübingen, Medical Center, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Strasse 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Str. 25, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Graduate School of Neural & Behavioural Sciences - International Max Planck Research School, University of Tübingen, Österberg-Str. 3, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Pomberger
- Neurobiology of Social Communication, Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Hearing Research Centre, University of Tübingen, Medical Center, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Strasse 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Str. 25, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Graduate School of Neural & Behavioural Sciences - International Max Planck Research School, University of Tübingen, Österberg-Str. 3, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Steffen R. Hage
- Neurobiology of Social Communication, Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Hearing Research Centre, University of Tübingen, Medical Center, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Strasse 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Str. 25, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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7
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Selection levels on vocal individuality: strategic use or byproduct. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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8
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Abstract
We examined the cortical control of a laryngeal muscle that is essential for vocalization in two monkey species that differ in their vocal motor skill. Our results suggest that enhancements in vocal skill are coupled to enlargements in the descending output from two premotor areas, ventral area 6 (area 6V) and the supplementary motor area (SMA). This result challenges the view that improvements in motor skills are due largely to changes in the output from the primary motor cortex. Marmosets display remarkable vocal motor abilities. Macaques do not. What is it about the marmoset brain that enables its skill in the vocal domain? We examined the cortical control of a laryngeal muscle that is essential for vocalization in both species. We found that, in both monkeys, multiple premotor areas in the frontal lobe along with the primary motor cortex (M1) are major sources of disynaptic drive to laryngeal motoneurons. Two of the premotor areas, ventral area 6 (area 6V) and the supplementary motor area (SMA), are a substantially larger source of descending output in marmosets. We propose that the enhanced vocal motor skills of marmosets are due, in part, to the expansion of descending output from these premotor areas.
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Risueno-Segovia C, Hage SR. Theta Synchronization of Phonatory and Articulatory Systems in Marmoset Monkey Vocal Production. Curr Biol 2020; 30:4276-4283.e3. [PMID: 32888481 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.08.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2020] [Revised: 07/20/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Human speech shares a 3-8-Hz theta rhythm across all languages [1-3]. According to the frame/content theory of speech evolution, this rhythm corresponds to syllabic rates derived from natural mandibular-associated oscillations [4]. The underlying pattern originates from oscillatory movements of articulatory muscles [4, 5] tightly linked to periodic vocal fold vibrations [4, 6, 7]. Such phono-articulatory rhythms have been proposed as one of the crucial preadaptations for human speech evolution [3, 8, 9]. However, the evolutionary link in phono-articulatory rhythmicity between vertebrate vocalization and human speech remains unclear. From the phonatory perspective, theta oscillations might be phylogenetically preserved throughout all vertebrate clades [10-12]. From the articulatory perspective, theta oscillations are present in non-vocal lip smacking [1, 13, 14], teeth chattering [15], vocal lip smacking [16], and clicks and faux-speech [17] in non-human primates, potential evolutionary precursors for speech rhythmicity [1, 13]. Notably, a universal phono-articulatory rhythmicity similar to that in human speech is considered to be absent in non-human primate vocalizations, typically produced with sound modulations lacking concomitant articulatory movements [1, 9, 18]. Here, we challenge this view by investigating the coupling of phonatory and articulatory systems in marmoset vocalizations. Using quantitative measures of acoustic call structure, e.g., amplitude envelope, and call-associated articulatory movements, i.e., inter-lip distance, we show that marmosets display speech-like bi-motor rhythmicity. These oscillations are synchronized and phase locked at theta rhythms. Our findings suggest that oscillatory rhythms underlying speech production evolved early in the primate lineage, identifying marmosets as a suitable animal model to decipher the evolutionary and neural basis of coupled phono-articulatory movements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Risueno-Segovia
- Neurobiology of Social Communication, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Hearing Research Centre, University of Tübingen Medical Center, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Str. 25, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; Graduate School of Neural & Behavioural Sciences - International Max Planck Research School, University of Tübingen, Österberg-Str. 3, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Steffen R Hage
- Neurobiology of Social Communication, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Hearing Research Centre, University of Tübingen Medical Center, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Str. 25, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
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