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Maya Lastra N, Rangel Negrín A, Coyohua Fuentes A, Dias PAD. Mantled howler monkey males assess their rivals through formant spacing of long-distance calls. Primates 2024; 65:183-190. [PMID: 38381271 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-024-01120-0] [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: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
Formant frequency spacing of long-distance vocalizations is allometrically related to body size and could represent an honest signal of fighting potential. There is, however, only limited evidence that primates use formant spacing to assess the competitive potential of rivals during interactions with extragroup males, a risky context. We hypothesized that if formant spacing of long-distance calls is inversely related to the fighting potential of male mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata), then males should: (1) be more likely and (2) faster to display vocal responses to calling rivals; (3) be more likely and (4) faster to approach calling rivals; and have higher fecal (5) glucocorticoid and (6) testosterone metabolite concentrations in response to rivals calling at intermediate and high formant spacing than to those with low formant spacing. We studied the behavioral responses of 11 adult males to playback experiments of long-distance calls from unknown individuals with low (i.e., emulating large individuals), intermediate, and high (i.e., small individuals) formant spacing (n = 36 experiments). We assayed fecal glucocorticoid and testosterone metabolite concentrations (n = 174). Playbacks always elicited vocal responses, but males responded quicker to intermediate than to low formant spacing playbacks. Low formant spacing calls were less likely to elicit approaches whereas high formant spacing calls resulted in quicker approaches. Males showed stronger hormonal responses to low than to both intermediate and high formant spacing calls. It is possible that males do not escalate conflicts with rivals with low formant spacing calls if these are perceived as large, and against whom winning probabilities should decrease and confrontation costs increase; but are willing to escalate conflicts with rivals of high formant spacing. Formant spacing may therefore be an important signal for rival assessment in this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Maya Lastra
- Primate Behavioral Ecology Lab, Instituto de Neuro-etología, Universidad Veracruzana, Av. Dr. Luis Castelazo Ayala S/N, CP 91190, Xalapa, México
| | - Ariadna Rangel Negrín
- Primate Behavioral Ecology Lab, Instituto de Neuro-etología, Universidad Veracruzana, Av. Dr. Luis Castelazo Ayala S/N, CP 91190, Xalapa, México
| | - Alejandro Coyohua Fuentes
- Primate Behavioral Ecology Lab, Instituto de Neuro-etología, Universidad Veracruzana, Av. Dr. Luis Castelazo Ayala S/N, CP 91190, Xalapa, México
| | - Pedro A D Dias
- Primate Behavioral Ecology Lab, Instituto de Neuro-etología, Universidad Veracruzana, Av. Dr. Luis Castelazo Ayala S/N, CP 91190, Xalapa, México.
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2
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Terranova F, Baciadonna L, Maccarone C, Isaja V, Gamba M, Favaro L. Penguins perceive variations of source- and filter-related vocal parameters of species-specific vocalisations. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:1613-1622. [PMID: 37401990 PMCID: PMC10442253 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-023-01806-w] [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: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023]
Abstract
Animal vocalisations encode a wide range of biological information about the age, sex, body size, and social status of the emitter. Moreover, vocalisations play a significant role in signalling the identity of the emitter to conspecifics. Recent studies have shown that, in the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), acoustic cues to individual identity are encoded in the fundamental frequency (F0) and resonance frequencies (formants) of the vocal tract. However, although penguins are known to produce vocalisations where F0 and formants vary among individuals, it remains to be tested whether the receivers can perceive and use such information in the individual recognition process. In this study, using the Habituation-Dishabituation (HD) paradigm, we tested the hypothesis that penguins perceive and respond to a shift of ± 20% (corresponding to the natural inter-individual variation observed in ex-situ colonies) of F0 and formant dispersion (ΔF) of species-specific calls. We found that penguins were more likely to look rapidly and for longer at the source of the sound when F0 and formants of the calls were manipulated, indicating that they could perceive variations of these parameters in the vocal signals. Our findings provide the first experimental evidence that, in the African penguin, listeners can perceive changes in F0 and formants, which can be used by the receiver as potential cues for the individual discrimination of the emitter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Terranova
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Luigi Baciadonna
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
| | - Chiara Maccarone
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | | | - Marco Gamba
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Livio Favaro
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
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3
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Nishimura T, Tokuda IT, Miyachi S, Dunn JC, Herbst CT, Ishimura K, Kaneko A, Kinoshita Y, Koda H, Saers JPP, Imai H, Matsuda T, Larsen ON, Jürgens U, Hirabayashi H, Kojima S, Fitch WT. Evolutionary loss of complexity in human vocal anatomy as an adaptation for speech. Science 2022; 377:760-763. [PMID: 35951711 DOI: 10.1126/science.abm1574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Human speech production obeys the same acoustic principles as vocal production in other animals but has distinctive features: A stable vocal source is filtered by rapidly changing formant frequencies. To understand speech evolution, we examined a wide range of primates, combining observations of phonation with mathematical modeling. We found that source stability relies upon simplifications in laryngeal anatomy, specifically the loss of air sacs and vocal membranes. We conclude that the evolutionary loss of vocal membranes allows human speech to mostly avoid the spontaneous nonlinear phenomena and acoustic chaos common in other primate vocalizations. This loss allows our larynx to produce stable, harmonic-rich phonation, ideally highlighting formant changes that convey most phonetic information. Paradoxically, the increased complexity of human spoken language thus followed simplification of our laryngeal anatomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takeshi Nishimura
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan.,Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan
| | - Isao T Tokuda
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577, Japan
| | - Shigehiro Miyachi
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan.,Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan
| | - Jacob C Dunn
- Behavioural Ecology Research Group, School of Life Science, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UK.,Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK.,Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Christian T Herbst
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan.,Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Kazuyoshi Ishimura
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577, Japan
| | - Akihisa Kaneko
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan.,Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan
| | - Yuki Kinoshita
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan.,Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan
| | - Hiroki Koda
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan
| | - Jaap P P Saers
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK
| | - Hirohiko Imai
- Department of Systems Science, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Matsuda
- Department of Systems Science, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
| | - Ole Næsbye Larsen
- Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark
| | - Uwe Jürgens
- Section of Neurobiology, German Primate Center, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | | | - Shozo Kojima
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan
| | - W Tecumseh Fitch
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria.,Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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4
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Individuality in Roars of Black-and-Gold Howler Monkeys (Alouatta caraya). INT J PRIMATOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-022-00290-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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5
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Melchor J, Vergara J, Figueroa T, Morán I, Lemus L. Formant-Based Recognition of Words and Other Naturalistic Sounds in Rhesus Monkeys. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:728686. [PMID: 34776842 PMCID: PMC8586527 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.728686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Accepted: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In social animals, identifying sounds is critical for communication. In humans, the acoustic parameters involved in speech recognition, such as the formant frequencies derived from the resonance of the supralaryngeal vocal tract, have been well documented. However, how formants contribute to recognizing learned sounds in non-human primates remains unclear. To determine this, we trained two rhesus monkeys to discriminate target and non-target sounds presented in sequences of 1–3 sounds. After training, we performed three experiments: (1) We tested the monkeys’ accuracy and reaction times during the discrimination of various acoustic categories; (2) their ability to discriminate morphing sounds; and (3) their ability to identify sounds consisting of formant 1 (F1), formant 2 (F2), or F1 and F2 (F1F2) pass filters. Our results indicate that macaques can learn diverse sounds and discriminate from morphs and formants F1 and F2, suggesting that information from few acoustic parameters suffice for recognizing complex sounds. We anticipate that future neurophysiological experiments in this paradigm may help elucidate how formants contribute to the recognition of sounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Melchor
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Cell Physiology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - José Vergara
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Tonatiuh Figueroa
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Cell Physiology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Isaac Morán
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Cell Physiology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Luis Lemus
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Cell Physiology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
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6
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Talkington WJ, Donai J, Kadner AS, Layne ML, Forino A, Wen S, Gao S, Gray MM, Ashraf AJ, Valencia GN, Smith BD, Khoo SK, Gray SJ, Lass N, Brefczynski-Lewis JA, Engdahl S, Graham D, Frum CA, Lewis JW. Electrophysiological Evidence of Early Cortical Sensitivity to Human Conspecific Mimic Voice as a Distinct Category of Natural Sound. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2020; 63:3539-3559. [PMID: 32936717 PMCID: PMC8060013 DOI: 10.1044/2020_jslhr-20-00063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2020] [Revised: 04/29/2020] [Accepted: 07/01/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Purpose From an anthropological perspective of hominin communication, the human auditory system likely evolved to enable special sensitivity to sounds produced by the vocal tracts of human conspecifics whether attended or passively heard. While numerous electrophysiological studies have used stereotypical human-produced verbal (speech voice and singing voice) and nonverbal vocalizations to identify human voice-sensitive responses, controversy remains as to when (and where) processing of acoustic signal attributes characteristic of "human voiceness" per se initiate in the brain. Method To explore this, we used animal vocalizations and human-mimicked versions of those calls ("mimic voice") to examine late auditory evoked potential responses in humans. Results Here, we revealed an N1b component (96-120 ms poststimulus) during a nonattending listening condition showing significantly greater magnitude in response to mimics, beginning as early as primary auditory cortices, preceding the time window reported in previous studies that revealed species-specific vocalization processing initiating in the range of 147-219 ms. During a sound discrimination task, a P600 (500-700 ms poststimulus) component showed specificity for accurate discrimination of human mimic voice. Distinct acoustic signal attributes and features of the stimuli were used in a classifier model, which could distinguish most human from animal voice comparably to behavioral data-though none of these single features could adequately distinguish human voiceness. Conclusions These results provide novel ideas for algorithms used in neuromimetic hearing aids, as well as direct electrophysiological support for a neurocognitive model of natural sound processing that informs both neurodevelopmental and anthropological models regarding the establishment of auditory communication systems in humans. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12903839.
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Affiliation(s)
- William J. Talkington
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Jeremy Donai
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Education and Human Services, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Alexandra S. Kadner
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Molly L. Layne
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Andrew Forino
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Sijin Wen
- Department of Biostatistics, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Si Gao
- Department of Biostatistics, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Margeaux M. Gray
- Department of Biology, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Alexandria J. Ashraf
- Department of Biology, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Gabriela N. Valencia
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Brandon D. Smith
- Department of Biology, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Stephanie K. Khoo
- Department of Biology, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Stephen J. Gray
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Norman Lass
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Education and Human Services, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | | | - Susannah Engdahl
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - David Graham
- Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - Chris A. Frum
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown
| | - James W. Lewis
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown
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7
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Boë LJ, Sawallis TR, Fagot J, Badin P, Barbier G, Captier G, Ménard L, Heim JL, Schwartz JL. Which way to the dawn of speech?: Reanalyzing half a century of debates and data in light of speech science. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2019; 5:eaaw3916. [PMID: 32076631 PMCID: PMC7000245 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw3916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2018] [Accepted: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Recent articles on primate articulatory abilities are revolutionary regarding speech emergence, a crucial aspect of language evolution, by revealing a human-like system of proto-vowels in nonhuman primates and implicitly throughout our hominid ancestry. This article presents both a schematic history and the state of the art in primate vocalization research and its importance for speech emergence. Recent speech research advances allow more incisive comparison of phylogeny and ontogeny and also an illuminating reinterpretation of vintage primate vocalization data. This review produces three major findings. First, even among primates, laryngeal descent is not uniquely human. Second, laryngeal descent is not required to produce contrasting formant patterns in vocalizations. Third, living nonhuman primates produce vocalizations with contrasting formant patterns. Thus, evidence now overwhelmingly refutes the long-standing laryngeal descent theory, which pushes back "the dawn of speech" beyond ~200 ka ago to over ~20 Ma ago, a difference of two orders of magnitude.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louis-Jean Boë
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institute of Engineering Univ. Grenoble Alpes, GIPSA-lab, Grenoble, France
| | | | - Joël Fagot
- Brain and Language Research Institute, Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France
- Cognitive Psychology Laboratory, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | - Pierre Badin
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institute of Engineering Univ. Grenoble Alpes, GIPSA-lab, Grenoble, France
| | - Guillaume Barbier
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institute of Engineering Univ. Grenoble Alpes, GIPSA-lab, Grenoble, France
- School of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | | | - Lucie Ménard
- Laboratoire de Phonétique, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Center for Research on Brain, Language, and Music, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Jean-Louis Heim
- Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
- Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Paris, France
| | - Jean-Luc Schwartz
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institute of Engineering Univ. Grenoble Alpes, GIPSA-lab, Grenoble, France
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8
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Bodin C, Belin P. Exploring the cerebral substrate of voice perception in primate brains. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 375:20180386. [PMID: 31735143 PMCID: PMC6895549 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
One can consider human language to be the Swiss army knife of the vast domain of animal communication. There is now growing evidence suggesting that this technology may have emerged from already operational material instead of being a sudden innovation. Sharing ideas and thoughts with conspecifics via language constitutes an amazing ability, but what value would it hold if our conspecifics were not first detected and recognized? Conspecific voice (CV) perception is fundamental to communication and widely shared across the animal kingdom. Two questions that arise then are: is this apparently shared ability reflected in common cerebral substrate? And, how has this substrate evolved? The paper addresses these questions by examining studies on the cerebral basis of CV perception in humans' closest relatives, non-human primates. Neuroimaging studies, in particular, suggest the existence of a ‘voice patch system’, a network of interconnected cortical areas that can provide a common template for the cerebral processing of CV in primates. This article is part of the theme issue ‘What can animal communication teach us about human language?’
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Affiliation(s)
- Clémentine Bodin
- Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, UMR 7289 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France
| | - Pascal Belin
- Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, UMR 7289 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.,Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
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9
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A new stress model by predatory sound produces persistent anxiety-like behaviours in male SD rats but not ICR mice. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2019.104843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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10
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Chestnut-crowned babbler calls are composed of meaningless shared building blocks. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:19579-19584. [PMID: 31501336 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1819513116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A core component of human language is its combinatorial sound system: meaningful signals are built from different combinations of meaningless sounds. Investigating whether nonhuman communication systems are also combinatorial is hampered by difficulties in identifying the extent to which vocalizations are constructed from shared, meaningless building blocks. Here we present an approach to circumvent this difficulty and show that a pair of functionally distinct chestnut-crowned babbler (Pomatostomus ruficeps) vocalizations can be decomposed into perceptibly distinct, meaningless entities that are shared across the 2 calls. Specifically, by focusing on the acoustic distinctiveness of sound elements using a habituation-discrimination paradigm on wild-caught babblers under standardized aviary conditions, we show that 2 multielement calls are composed of perceptibly distinct sounds that are reused in different arrangements across the 2 calls. Furthermore, and critically, we show that none of the 5 constituent elements elicits functionally relevant responses in receivers, indicating that the constituent sounds do not carry the meaning of the call and so are contextually meaningless. Our work, which allows combinatorial systems in animals to be more easily identified, suggests that animals can produce functionally distinct calls that are built in a way superficially reminiscent of the way that humans produce morphemes and words. The results reported lend credence to the recent idea that language's combinatorial system may have been preceded by a superficial stage where signalers neither needed to be cognitively aware of the combinatorial strategy in place, nor of its building blocks.
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11
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Stansbury AL, Janik VM. Formant Modification through Vocal Production Learning in Gray Seals. Curr Biol 2019; 29:2244-2249.e4. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.05.071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2019] [Revised: 04/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/29/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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12
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Sliwa J, Takahashi D, Shepherd S. Mécanismes neuronaux pour la communication chez les primates. REVUE DE PRIMATOLOGIE 2018. [DOI: 10.4000/primatologie.2950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
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13
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A "voice patch" system in the primate brain for processing vocal information? Hear Res 2018; 366:65-74. [PMID: 29776691 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2018.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2018] [Revised: 04/14/2018] [Accepted: 04/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
We review behavioural and neural evidence for the processing of information contained in conspecific vocalizations (CVs) in three primate species: humans, macaques and marmosets. We focus on abilities that are present and ecologically relevant in all three species: the detection and sensitivity to CVs; and the processing of identity cues in CVs. Current evidence, although fragmentary, supports the notion of a "voice patch system" in the primate brain analogous to the face patch system of visual cortex: a series of discrete, interconnected cortical areas supporting increasingly abstract representations of the vocal input. A central question concerns the degree to which the voice patch system is conserved in evolution. We outline challenges that arise and suggesting potential avenues for comparing the organization of the voice patch system across primate brains.
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14
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Kitchen DM, Bergman TJ, Dias PAD, Ho L, Canales-Espinosa D, Cortés-Ortiz L. Temporal but Not Acoustic Plasticity in Hybrid Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata × A. pigra) Loud Calls. INT J PRIMATOL 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-017-0004-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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15
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Szipl G, Ringler E, Spreafico M, Bugnyar T. Calls during agonistic interactions vary with arousal and raise audience attention in ravens. Front Zool 2017; 14:57. [PMID: 29299036 PMCID: PMC5740903 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-017-0244-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2017] [Accepted: 11/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Acoustic properties of vocalizations can vary with the internal state of the caller, and may serve as reliable indicators for a caller's emotional state, for example to prevent conflicts. Thus, individuals may associate distinct characteristics in acoustic signals of conspecifics with specific social contexts, and adjust their behaviour accordingly to prevent escalation of conflicts. Common ravens (Corvus corax) crowd-forage with individuals of different age classes, sex, and rank, assemble at feeding sites, and engage in agonistic interactions of varying intensity. Attacked individuals frequently utter defensive calls in order to appease the aggressor. Here, we investigated if acoustic properties of defensive calls change with varying levels of aggression, and if bystanders respond to these changes. RESULTS Individuals were more likely to utter defensive calls when the attack involved contact aggression, and when the attacker was higher in rank than the victim. Defensive calls produced during intense conflicts were longer and uttered at higher rates, and showed higher fundamental frequency- and amplitude-related measures than calls uttered during low-intensity aggression, indicating arousal-based changes in defensive calls. Playback experiments showed that ravens were more likely to react in response to defensive calls with higher fundamental frequency by orientating towards the speakers as compared to original calls and calls manipulated in duration. CONCLUSIONS Arousal-based changes are encoded in acoustic parameters of defensive calls in attacked ravens, and bystanders in the audience pay attention to the degree of arousal in attacked conspecifics. Our findings imply that common ravens can regulate conflicts with conspecifics by means of vocalizations, and are able to gather social knowledge from conspecific calls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgine Szipl
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
- Core Facility Konrad Lorenz Research Station for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, Fischerau 11, A-4645 Gruenau im Almtal, Austria
| | - Eva Ringler
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, and University of Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria
- Department of Integrative Zoology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Michela Spreafico
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Bugnyar
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
- Core Facility Konrad Lorenz Research Station for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, Fischerau 11, A-4645 Gruenau im Almtal, Austria
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16
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Wood A, Martin J, Niedenthal P. Towards a social functional account of laughter: Acoustic features convey reward, affiliation, and dominance. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0183811. [PMID: 28850589 PMCID: PMC5574543 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2017] [Accepted: 08/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent work has identified the physical features of smiles that accomplish three tasks fundamental to human social living: rewarding behavior, establishing and managing affiliative bonds, and negotiating social status. The current work extends the social functional account to laughter. Participants (N = 762) rated the degree to which reward, affiliation, or dominance (between-subjects) was conveyed by 400 laughter samples acquired from a commercial sound effects website. Inclusion of a fourth rating dimension, spontaneity, allowed us to situate the current approach in the context of existing laughter research, which emphasizes the distinction between spontaneous and volitional laughter. We used 11 acoustic properties extracted from the laugh samples to predict participants’ ratings. Actor sex moderated, and sometimes even reversed, the relation between acoustics and participants’ judgments. Spontaneous laughter appears to serve the reward function in the current framework, as similar acoustic properties guided perceiver judgments of spontaneity and reward: reduced voicing and increased pitch, increased duration for female actors, and increased pitch slope, center of gravity, first formant, and noisiness for male actors. Affiliation ratings diverged from reward in their sex-dependent relationship to intensity and, for females, reduced pitch range and raised second formant. Dominance displayed the most distinct pattern of acoustic predictors, including increased pitch range, reduced second formant in females, and decreased pitch variability in males. We relate the current findings to existing findings on laughter and human and non-human vocalizations, concluding laughter can signal much more that felt or faked amusement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrienne Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Jared Martin
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Paula Niedenthal
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
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17
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Function and Evolution of Vibrato-like Frequency Modulation in Mammals. Curr Biol 2017; 27:2692-2697.e3. [PMID: 28844642 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.07.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2017] [Revised: 07/09/2017] [Accepted: 07/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Why do distantly related mammals like sheep, giant pandas, and fur seals produce bleats that are characterized by vibrato-like fundamental frequency (F0) modulation? To answer this question, we used psychoacoustic tests and comparative analyses to investigate whether this distinctive vocal feature has evolved to improve the perception of formants, key acoustic components of animal calls that encode important information about the caller's size and identity [1]. Psychoacoustic tests on humans confirmed that vibrato-like F0 modulation improves the ability of listeners to detect differences in the formant patterns of synthetic bleat-like stimuli. Subsequent phylogenetically controlled comparative analyses revealed that vibrato-like F0 modulation has evolved independently in six mammalian orders in vocal signals with relatively high F0 and, therefore, low spectral density (i.e., less harmonic overtones). We also found that mammals modulate the vibrato in these calls over greater frequency extents when the number of harmonic overtones per formant is low, suggesting that this is a mechanism to improve formant perception in calls with low spectral density. Our findings constitute the first evidence that formant perception in non-speech sounds is improved by fundamental frequency modulation and provide a mechanism for the convergent evolution of bleat-like calls in mammals. They also indicate that selection pressures for animals to transmit important information encoded by formant frequencies (on size and identity, for example) are likely to have been a key driver in the evolution of mammal vocal diversity.
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Furuyama T, Kobayasi KI, Riquimaroux H. Acoustic characteristics used by Japanese macaques for individual discrimination. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017; 220:3571-3578. [PMID: 28778999 PMCID: PMC5665434 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.154765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2016] [Accepted: 07/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The vocalizations of primates contain information about speaker individuality. Many primates, including humans, are able to distinguish conspecifics based solely on vocalizations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the acoustic characteristics used by Japanese macaques in individual vocal discrimination. Furthermore, we tested human subjects using monkey vocalizations to evaluate species specificity with respect to such discriminations. Two monkeys and five humans were trained to discriminate the coo calls of two unfamiliar monkeys. We created a stimulus continuum between the vocalizations of the two monkeys as a set of probe stimuli (whole morph). We also created two sets of continua in which only one acoustic parameter, fundamental frequency (f0) or vocal tract characteristic (VTC), was changed from the coo call of one monkey to that of another while the other acoustic feature remained the same (f0 morph and VTC morph, respectively). According to the results, the reaction times both of monkeys and humans were correlated with the morph proportion under the whole morph and f0 morph conditions. The reaction time to the VTC morph was correlated with the morph proportion in both monkeys, whereas the reaction time in humans, on average, was not correlated with morph proportion. Japanese monkeys relied more consistently on VTC than did humans for discriminating monkey vocalizations. Our results support the idea that the auditory system of primates is specialized for processing conspecific vocalizations and suggest that VTC is a significant acoustic feature used by Japanese macaques to discriminate conspecific vocalizations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takafumi Furuyama
- Graduate School of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Kohta I Kobayasi
- Graduate School of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Riquimaroux
- Graduate School of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
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19
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Gamba M, Favaro L, Araldi A, Matteucci V, Giacoma C, Friard O. Modeling individual vocal differences in group-living lemurs using vocal tract morphology. Curr Zool 2017; 63:467-475. [PMID: 29492006 PMCID: PMC5804192 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zox023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2016] [Accepted: 03/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Vocal individuality is widespread in social animals. Individual variation in vocalizations is a prerequisite for discriminating among conspecifics and may have facilitated the evolution of large complex societies. Ring-tailed lemurs Lemur catta live in relatively large social groups, have conspicuous vocal repertoires, and their species-specific utterances can be interpreted in light of source-filter theory of vocal production. Indeed, their utterances allow individual discrimination and even recognition thanks to the resonance frequencies of the vocal tract. The purpose of this study is to determine which distinctive vocal features can be derived from the morphology of the upper vocal tract. To accomplish this, we built computational models derived from anatomical measurements collected on lemur cadavers and compared the results with the spectrographic output of vocalizations recorded from ex situ live individuals. Our results demonstrate that the morphological variation of the ring-tailed lemur vocal tract explains individual distinctiveness of their species-specific utterances. We also provide further evidence that vocal tract modeling is a powerful tool for studying the vocal output of non-human primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Gamba
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Torino 10134, Italy
| | - Livio Favaro
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Torino 10134, Italy
| | - Alessandro Araldi
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Torino 10134, Italy
| | | | - Cristina Giacoma
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Torino 10134, Italy
| | - Olivier Friard
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Torino 10134, Italy
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20
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Fitch WT, de Boer B, Mathur N, Ghazanfar AA. Response to Lieberman on "Monkey vocal tracts are speech-ready". SCIENCE ADVANCES 2017; 3:e1701859. [PMID: 28695214 PMCID: PMC5501503 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1701859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2017] [Accepted: 06/01/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Macaques do have a speech-ready vocal tract, but lack a speech-ready brain to control it.
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Affiliation(s)
- W. Tecumseh Fitch
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
- Haidlhof Research Station, University of Vienna/University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Bad Vöslau, Austria
| | - Bart de Boer
- Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Neil Mathur
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Asif A. Ghazanfar
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
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Evidence of a Vocalic Proto-System in the Baboon (Papio papio) Suggests Pre-Hominin Speech Precursors. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0169321. [PMID: 28076426 PMCID: PMC5226677 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2016] [Accepted: 12/15/2016] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Language is a distinguishing characteristic of our species, and the course of its evolution is one of the hardest problems in science. It has long been generally considered that human speech requires a low larynx, and that the high larynx of nonhuman primates should preclude their producing the vowel systems universally found in human language. Examining the vocalizations through acoustic analyses, tongue anatomy, and modeling of acoustic potential, we found that baboons (Papio papio) produce sounds sharing the F1/F2 formant structure of the human [ɨ æ ɑ ɔ u] vowels, and that similarly with humans those vocalic qualities are organized as a system on two acoustic-anatomic axes. This confirms that hominoids can produce contrasting vowel qualities despite a high larynx. It suggests that spoken languages evolved from ancient articulatory skills already present in our last common ancestor with Cercopithecoidea, about 25 MYA.
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22
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Role of vocal tract characteristics in individual discrimination by Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). Sci Rep 2016; 6:32042. [PMID: 27550840 PMCID: PMC4994087 DOI: 10.1038/srep32042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2016] [Accepted: 08/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) exhibits a species-specific communication sound called the “coo call” to locate group members and maintain within-group contact. Monkeys have been demonstrated to be capable of discriminating between individuals based only on their voices, but there is still debate regarding how the fundamental frequencies (F0) and filter properties of the vocal tract characteristics (VTC) contribute to individual discrimination in nonhuman primates. This study was performed to investigate the acoustic keys used by Japanese macaques in individual discrimination. Two animals were trained with standard Go/NoGo operant conditioning to distinguish the coo calls of two unfamiliar monkeys. The subjects were required to continue depressing a lever until the stimulus changed from one monkey to the other. The test stimuli were synthesized by combining the F0s and VTC from each individual. Both subjects released the lever when the VTC changed, whereas they did not when the F0 changed. The reaction times to the test stimuli were not significantly different from that to the training stimuli that shared the same VTC. Our data suggest that vocal tract characteristics are important for the identification of individuals by Japanese macaques.
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23
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Bálint A, Faragó T, Miklósi Á, Pongrácz P. Threat-level-dependent manipulation of signaled body size: dog growls’ indexical cues depend on the different levels of potential danger. Anim Cogn 2016; 19:1115-1131. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-1019-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2015] [Revised: 07/19/2016] [Accepted: 07/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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24
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Bernstein SK, Sheeran LK, Wagner RS, Li JH, Koda H. The vocal repertoire of Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana): A quantitative classification. Am J Primatol 2016; 78:937-49. [PMID: 27243451 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2015] [Revised: 05/14/2016] [Accepted: 05/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Vocal repertoires are basic and essential components for describing vocal communication in animals. Studying the entire suite of vocal signals aids investigations on the variation of acoustic structure across social contexts, comparisons on the complexity of communication systems across taxa, and in exploration of the evolutionary origins of species-specific vocalizations. Here, we describe the vocal repertoire of the largest species in the macaque genus, Macaca thibetana. We extracted thirty acoustic parameters from call recordings. Post hoc validation through quantitative analyses of the a priori repertoire classified eleven call types: coo, squawk, squeal, noisy scream, growl, bark, compound squeak, leap coo, weeping, modulated tonal scream, and pant. In comparison to the rest of the genus, Tibetan macaques uttered a wider array of vocalizations in the context of copulations. Previous reports did not include modulated tonal screams and pants during harassment of copulatory dyads. Furthermore, in comparison to the rest of the genus, Tibetan macaque females emit acoustically distinct copulation calls. The vocal repertoire of Tibetan macaques contributes to the literature on the emergence of species-specific calls in the genus Macaca with potential insights from social, reproductive, and ecological comparisons across species. Am. J. Primatol. 78:937-949, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofia K Bernstein
- Department of Ecology and Social Behavior, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan
| | - Lori K Sheeran
- Department of Anthropology and Museum Studies, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington.,Primate Behavior and Ecology Program, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington
| | - R Steven Wagner
- Primate Behavior and Ecology Program, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington.,Department of Biological Sciences, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington
| | - Jin-Hua Li
- School of Life Science, Hefei Normal University, Hefei, China
| | - Hiroki Koda
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan
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25
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Reber SA, Boeckle M, Szipl G, Janisch J, Bugnyar T, Fitch WT. Territorial raven pairs are sensitive to structural changes in simulated acoustic displays of conspecifics. Anim Behav 2016; 116:153-162. [PMID: 27346889 PMCID: PMC4907634 DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2015] [Revised: 11/02/2015] [Accepted: 04/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Human language involves combining items into meaningful, syntactically structured wholes. The evolutionary origin of syntactic abilities has been investigated by testing pattern perception capacities in nonhuman animals. New World primates can respond spontaneously to structural changes in acoustic sequences and songbirds can learn to discriminate between various patterns in operant tasks. However, there is no conclusive evidence that songbirds respond spontaneously to structural changes in patterns without reinforcement or training. In this study, we tested pattern perception capacities of common ravens, Corvus corax, in a habituation-discrimination playback experiment. To enhance stimulus salience, call recordings of male and female ravens were used as acoustic elements, combined to create artificial territorial displays as target patterns. We habituated captive territorial raven pairs to displays following a particular pattern and subsequently exposed them to several test and control playbacks. Subjects spent more time visually orienting towards the loudspeaker in the discrimination phase when they heard structurally novel call combinations, violating the pattern presented during habituation. This demonstrates that songbirds, much like primates, can be sensitive to structural changes in auditory patterns and respond to them spontaneously, without training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan A. Reber
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Markus Boeckle
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Konrad Lorenz Research Station for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, Grünau, Austria
- Department for Psychotherapy and Biopsychosocial Health, Danube University Krems, Krems, Austria
| | - Georgine Szipl
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Konrad Lorenz Research Station for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, Grünau, Austria
| | - Judith Janisch
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Bugnyar
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Konrad Lorenz Research Station for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, Grünau, Austria
| | - W. Tecumseh Fitch
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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26
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27
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Leuchtenberger C, Sousa-Lima R, Ribas C, Magnusson WE, Mourão G. Giant otter alarm calls as potential mechanisms for individual discrimination and sexual selection. BIOACOUSTICS 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2016.1157704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Leuchtenberger
- Graduate Program in Ecology, National Institute of Amazon Research – INPA, Manaus, Brazil
- Wildlife Laboratory, Embrapa Pantanal, Corumbá, Brazil
- Laboratory of Bioacoustics, Department of Physiology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
| | - Renata Sousa-Lima
- Laboratory of Bioacoustics, Department of Physiology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
| | - Carolina Ribas
- Graduate Program in Ecology, National Institute of Amazon Research – INPA, Manaus, Brazil
- Wildlife Laboratory, Embrapa Pantanal, Corumbá, Brazil
| | - William E. Magnusson
- Graduate Program in Ecology, National Institute of Amazon Research – INPA, Manaus, Brazil
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28
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Bergman TJ, Cortés-Ortiz L, Dias PAD, Ho L, Adams D, Canales-Espinosa D, Kitchen DM. Striking differences in the loud calls of howler monkey sister species (Alouatta pigra and A. palliata). Am J Primatol 2016; 78:755-66. [PMID: 26950654 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2015] [Revised: 02/08/2016] [Accepted: 02/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Comparing vocalizations across species is useful for understanding acoustic variation at mechanistic and evolutionary levels. Here, we take advantage of the divergent vocalizations of two closely related howler monkey species (Alouatta pigra and A. palliata) to better understand vocal evolution. In addition to comparing multiple acoustic and temporal features of roars and the calling bouts in which they are produced, we tested several predictions. First, A. pigra should have roars with lower fundamental frequency and lower formant dispersion because they are larger than A. palliata and have a larger hyoid apparatus. Second, A. pigra should have faster calling rates, longer roars, longer bouts, and exaggerated call features linked to vocal effort (e.g., nonlinear phenomena and emphasized frequencies) because they are the more aggressive species during intergroup encounters. We found significant interspecific differences supporting our predictions in every tested parameter of roars and bouts, except for roar duration and barking rate. Stepwise discriminant function analyses identified the best features for differentiating roars (acoustic features: formant dispersion followed by highest frequency; temporal features: longest syllable duration followed by number of syllables). Although resembling each other more than they resemble South American howler monkeys, our comparison revealed striking differences in the vocalizations of the two Mesoamerican species. While we cannot completely rule out the influence of body size or the environmental conditions in which the two species evolved, vocal differences were likely influenced by sexual selection. The exaggerated roars and intense calling patterns in A. pigra seem more suitable for intergroup competition, whereas A. palliata calls may be better suited for mate attraction and competition within groups. With interspecific acoustic differences quantified, we will now be able to examine how vocalizations contribute to the evolutionary dynamics of the A. palliata × A. pigra hybrid zone in southern Mexico. Am. J. Primatol. 78:755-766, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thore J Bergman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Liliana Cortés-Ortiz
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Pedro A D Dias
- Laboratorio de Ecología del Comportamiento de Primates, Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Lucy Ho
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Dara Adams
- Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Mansfield, Ohio
| | - Domingo Canales-Espinosa
- Laboratorio de Ecología del Comportamiento de Primates, Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Dawn M Kitchen
- Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Mansfield, Ohio.,Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.,Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
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29
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Garcia M, Gingras B, Bowling DL, Herbst CT, Boeckle M, Locatelli Y, Fitch WT. Structural Classification of Wild Boar ( Sus scrofa) Vocalizations. Ethology 2016; 122:329-342. [PMID: 27065507 PMCID: PMC4793927 DOI: 10.1111/eth.12472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2015] [Revised: 07/20/2015] [Accepted: 12/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Determining whether a species' vocal communication system is graded or discrete requires definition of its vocal repertoire. In this context, research on domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) vocalizations, for example, has led to significant advances in our understanding of communicative functions. Despite their close relation to domestic pigs, little is known about wild boar (Sus scrofa) vocalizations. The few existing studies, conducted in the 1970s, relied on visual inspections of spectrograms to quantify acoustic parameters and lacked statistical analysis. Here, we use objective signal processing techniques and advanced statistical approaches to classify 616 calls recorded from semi‐free ranging animals. Based on four spectral and temporal acoustic parameters—quartile Q25, duration, spectral flux, and spectral flatness—extracted from a multivariate analysis, we refine and extend the conclusions drawn from previous work and present a statistically validated classification of the wild boar vocal repertoire into four call types: grunts, grunt‐squeals, squeals, and trumpets. While the majority of calls could be sorted into these categories using objective criteria, we also found evidence supporting a graded interpretation of some wild boar vocalizations as acoustically continuous, with the extremes representing discrete call types. The use of objective criteria based on modern techniques and statistics in respect to acoustic continuity advances our understanding of vocal variation. Integrating our findings with recent studies on domestic pig vocal behavior and emotions, we emphasize the importance of grunt‐squeals for acoustic approaches to animal welfare and underline the need of further research investigating the role of domestication on animal vocal communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxime Garcia
- Department of Cognitive Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria
| | - Bruno Gingras
- Department of Cognitive Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria
| | - Daniel L Bowling
- Department of Cognitive Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria
| | - Christian T Herbst
- Voice Research Lab Department of Biophysics Faculty of Science Palacký University Olomouc Czech Republic
| | - Markus Boeckle
- Department of Cognitive Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Department of Psychotherapy and Biopsychosocial Health Danube University Krems Krems Austria
| | - Yann Locatelli
- Réserve de la Haute Touche Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle Obterre France; Equipe Interactions Cellulaires et Fertilité UMR0085 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique Nouzilly France
| | - W Tecumseh Fitch
- Department of Cognitive Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria
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30
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Pisanski K, Jones BC, Fink B, O'Connor JJ, DeBruine LM, Röder S, Feinberg DR. Voice parameters predict sex-specific body morphology in men and women. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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31
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Vocal Production by Terrestrial Mammals: Source, Filter, and Function. VERTEBRATE SOUND PRODUCTION AND ACOUSTIC COMMUNICATION 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-27721-9_8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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32
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Fukushima M, Doyle AM, Mullarkey MP, Mishkin M, Averbeck BB. Distributed acoustic cues for caller identity in macaque vocalization. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2015; 2:150432. [PMID: 27019727 PMCID: PMC4806230 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.150432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2015] [Accepted: 11/23/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Individual primates can be identified by the sound of their voice. Macaques have demonstrated an ability to discern conspecific identity from a harmonically structured 'coo' call. Voice recognition presumably requires the integrated perception of multiple acoustic features. However, it is unclear how this is achieved, given considerable variability across utterances. Specifically, the extent to which information about caller identity is distributed across multiple features remains elusive. We examined these issues by recording and analysing a large sample of calls from eight macaques. Single acoustic features, including fundamental frequency, duration and Weiner entropy, were informative but unreliable for the statistical classification of caller identity. A combination of multiple features, however, allowed for highly accurate caller identification. A regularized classifier that learned to identify callers from the modulation power spectrum of calls found that specific regions of spectral-temporal modulation were informative for caller identification. These ranges are related to acoustic features such as the call's fundamental frequency and FM sweep direction. We further found that the low-frequency spectrotemporal modulation component contained an indexical cue of the caller body size. Thus, cues for caller identity are distributed across identifiable spectrotemporal components corresponding to laryngeal and supralaryngeal components of vocalizations, and the integration of those cues can enable highly reliable caller identification. Our results demonstrate a clear acoustic basis by which individual macaque vocalizations can be recognized.
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33
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Town SM, Atilgan H, Wood KC, Bizley JK. The role of spectral cues in timbre discrimination by ferrets and humans. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2015; 137:2870-2883. [PMID: 25994714 PMCID: PMC6544515 DOI: 10.1121/1.4916690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Timbre distinguishes sounds of equal loudness, pitch, and duration; however, little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying timbre perception. Such understanding requires animal models such as the ferret in which neuronal and behavioral observation can be combined. The current study asked what spectral cues ferrets use to discriminate between synthetic vowels. Ferrets were trained to discriminate vowels differing in the position of the first (F1) and second formants (F2), inter-formant distance, and spectral centroid. In experiment 1, ferrets responded to probe trials containing novel vowels in which the spectral cues of trained vowels were mismatched. Regression models fitted to behavioral responses determined that F2 and spectral centroid were stronger predictors of ferrets' behavior than either F1 or inter-formant distance. Experiment 2 examined responses to single formant vowels and found that individual spectral peaks failed to account for multi-formant vowel perception. Experiment 3 measured responses to unvoiced vowels and showed that ferrets could generalize vowel identity across voicing conditions. Experiment 4 employed the same design as experiment 1 but with human participants. Their responses were also predicted by F2 and spectral centroid. Together these findings further support the ferret as a model for studying the neural processes underlying timbre perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen M Town
- Ear Institute, University College London, 332 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8EE, United Kingdom
| | - Huriye Atilgan
- Ear Institute, University College London, 332 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8EE, United Kingdom
| | - Katherine C Wood
- Ear Institute, University College London, 332 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8EE, United Kingdom
| | - Jennifer K Bizley
- Ear Institute, University College London, 332 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8EE, United Kingdom
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Ghazanfar AA, Eliades SJ. The neurobiology of primate vocal communication. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2014; 28:128-35. [PMID: 25062473 PMCID: PMC4177356 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2014.06.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2014] [Revised: 06/26/2014] [Accepted: 06/27/2014] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Recent investigations of non-human primate communication revealed vocal behaviors far more complex than previously appreciated. Understanding the neural basis of these communicative behaviors is important as it has the potential to reveal the basic underpinnings of the still more complex human speech. The latest work revealed vocalization-sensitive regions both within and beyond the traditional boundaries of the central auditory system. The importance and mechanisms of multi-sensory face-voice integration in vocal communication are also increasingly apparent. Finally, studies on the mechanisms of vocal production demonstrated auditory-motor interactions that may allow for self-monitoring and vocal control. We review the current work in these areas of primate communication research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asif A Ghazanfar
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA; Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA; Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
| | - Steven J Eliades
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3400 Spruce Street, 5 Ravdin, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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35
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Pisanski K, Fraccaro PJ, Tigue CC, O'Connor JJ, Röder S, Andrews PW, Fink B, DeBruine LM, Jones BC, Feinberg DR. Vocal indicators of body size in men and women: a meta-analysis. Anim Behav 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 123] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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36
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Zuberbühler K. Experimental field studies with non-human primates. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2014; 28:150-6. [PMID: 25063915 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2014.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2014] [Revised: 07/02/2014] [Accepted: 07/03/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
One way to study language evolution is to compare human communication with closely related non-human primate species. This comparative approach has turned to be especially productive if subjects are studied under natural field conditions in which they have evolved. Various observation techniques have been developed, but field experiments are often needed to clarify underlying cause-effect relations. Here, I review the main experimental designs that are suitable for primate fieldwork and discuss some scientific advancements that they have generated. Field experiments are notoriously difficult to carry out for a range of reasons that are discussed. Nonetheless, considerable progress has been made in recent years, including with great apes, which have traditionally been neglected in experimental research in the wild.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Zuberbühler
- Department of Comparative Cognition, University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK.
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37
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Christison-Lagay KL, Bennur S, Blackwell J, Lee JH, Schroeder T, Cohen YE. Natural variability in species-specific vocalizations constrains behavior and neural activity. Hear Res 2014; 312:128-42. [PMID: 24721001 PMCID: PMC4057037 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2014.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2014] [Revised: 03/07/2014] [Accepted: 03/13/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
A listener's capacity to discriminate between sounds is related to the amount of acoustic variability that exists between these sounds. However, a full understanding of how this natural variability impacts neural activity and behavior is lacking. Here, we tested monkeys' ability to discriminate between different utterances of vocalizations from the same acoustic class (i.e., coos and grunts), while neural activity was simultaneously recorded in the anterolateral belt region (AL) of the auditory cortex, a brain region that is a part of a pathway that mediates auditory perception. Monkeys could discriminate between coos better than they could discriminate between grunts. We also found AL activity was more informative about different coos than different grunts. This difference could be attributed, in part, to our finding that coos had more acoustic variability than grunts. Thus, intrinsic acoustic variability constrained the discriminability of AL spike trains and the ability of rhesus monkeys to discriminate between vocalizations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sharath Bennur
- Dept. Otorhinolaryngology, U. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Jennifer Blackwell
- Neuroscience Graduate Group, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Jung H Lee
- Dept. Otorhinolaryngology, U. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Tim Schroeder
- Dept. Otorhinolaryngology, U. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Yale E Cohen
- Dept. Otorhinolaryngology, U. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Neuroscience, U. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Bioengineering, U. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
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38
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Auditory and visual modulation of temporal lobe neurons in voice-sensitive and association cortices. J Neurosci 2014; 34:2524-37. [PMID: 24523543 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2805-13.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Effective interactions between conspecific individuals can depend upon the receiver forming a coherent multisensory representation of communication signals, such as merging voice and face content. Neuroimaging studies have identified face- or voice-sensitive areas (Belin et al., 2000; Petkov et al., 2008; Tsao et al., 2008), some of which have been proposed as candidate regions for face and voice integration (von Kriegstein et al., 2005). However, it was unclear how multisensory influences occur at the neuronal level within voice- or face-sensitive regions, especially compared with classically defined multisensory regions in temporal association cortex (Stein and Stanford, 2008). Here, we characterize auditory (voice) and visual (face) influences on neuronal responses in a right-hemisphere voice-sensitive region in the anterior supratemporal plane (STP) of Rhesus macaques. These results were compared with those in the neighboring superior temporal sulcus (STS). Within the STP, our results show auditory sensitivity to several vocal features, which was not evident in STS units. We also newly identify a functionally distinct neuronal subpopulation in the STP that appears to carry the area's sensitivity to voice identity related features. Audiovisual interactions were prominent in both the STP and STS. However, visual influences modulated the responses of STS neurons with greater specificity and were more often associated with congruent voice-face stimulus pairings than STP neurons. Together, the results reveal the neuronal processes subserving voice-sensitive fMRI activity patterns in primates, generate hypotheses for testing in the visual modality, and clarify the position of voice-sensitive areas within the unisensory and multisensory processing hierarchies.
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Town SM, Bizley JK. Neural and behavioral investigations into timbre perception. Front Syst Neurosci 2013; 7:88. [PMID: 24312021 PMCID: PMC3826062 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2013.00088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2013] [Accepted: 10/27/2013] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Timbre is the attribute that distinguishes sounds of equal pitch, loudness and duration. It contributes to our perception and discrimination of different vowels and consonants in speech, instruments in music and environmental sounds. Here we begin by reviewing human timbre perception and the spectral and temporal acoustic features that give rise to timbre in speech, musical and environmental sounds. We also consider the perception of timbre by animals, both in the case of human vowels and non-human vocalizations. We then explore the neural representation of timbre, first within the peripheral auditory system and later at the level of the auditory cortex. We examine the neural networks that are implicated in timbre perception and the computations that may be performed in auditory cortex to enable listeners to extract information about timbre. We consider whether single neurons in auditory cortex are capable of representing spectral timbre independently of changes in other perceptual attributes and the mechanisms that may shape neural sensitivity to timbre. Finally, we conclude by outlining some of the questions that remain about the role of neural mechanisms in behavior and consider some potentially fruitful avenues for future research.
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Cazau D, Adam O, Laitman JT, Reidenberg JS. Understanding the intentional acoustic behavior of humpback whales: a production-based approach. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2013; 134:2268-2273. [PMID: 23967956 DOI: 10.1121/1.4816403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Following a production-based approach, this paper deals with the acoustic behavior of humpback whales. This approach investigates various physical factors, which are either internal (e.g., physiological mechanisms) or external (e.g., environmental constraints) to the respiratory tractus of the whale, for their implications in sound production. This paper aims to describe a functional scenario of this tractus for the generation of vocal sounds. To do so, a division of this tractus into three different configurations is proposed, based on the air recirculation process which determines air sources and laryngeal valves. Then, assuming a vocal function (in sound generation or modification) for several specific anatomical components, an acoustic characterization of each of these configurations is proposed to link different spectral features, namely, fundamental frequencies and formant structures, to specific vocal production mechanisms. A discussion around the question of whether the whale is able to fully exploit the acoustic potential of its respiratory tractus is eventually provided.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorian Cazau
- Institut Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, University UPMC Paris 6, CNRS UMR 7190, Equipe Lutheries Acoustique Musicale, LAM 11 rue de Lourmel, 75015 Paris, France.
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41
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Charlton BD, Whisson DA, Reby D. Free-ranging male koalas use size-related variation in formant frequencies to assess rival males. PLoS One 2013; 8:e70279. [PMID: 23922967 PMCID: PMC3726542 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2013] [Accepted: 06/20/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the use of formant frequencies in nonhuman animal vocal communication systems has received considerable recent interest, only a few studies have examined the importance of these acoustic cues to body size during intra-sexual competition between males. Here we used playback experiments to present free-ranging male koalas with re-synthesised bellow vocalisations in which the formants were shifted to simulate either a large or a small adult male. We found that male looking responses did not differ according to the size variant condition played back. In contrast, male koalas produced longer bellows and spent more time bellowing when they were presented with playbacks simulating larger rivals. In addition, males were significantly slower to respond to this class of playback stimuli than they were to bellows simulating small males. Our results indicate that male koalas invest more effort into their vocal responses when they are presented with bellows that have lower formants indicative of larger rivals, but also show that males are slower to engage in vocal exchanges with larger males that represent more dangerous rivals. By demonstrating that male koalas use formants to assess rivals during the breeding season we have provided evidence that male-male competition constitutes an important selection pressure for broadcasting and attending to size-related formant information in this species. Further empirical studies should investigate the extent to which the use of formants during intra-sexual competition is widespread throughout mammals.
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42
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Moreira J, Vukov J, Sousa C, Santos FC, d'Almeida AF, Santos MD, Pacheco JM. Individual memory and the emergence of cooperation. Anim Behav 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.10.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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43
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Tsunada J, Sawaguchi T. Neuronal categorization and discrimination of social behaviors in primate prefrontal cortex. PLoS One 2012; 7:e52610. [PMID: 23285110 PMCID: PMC3532303 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2012] [Accepted: 11/20/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been implied that primates have an ability to categorize social behaviors between other individuals for the execution of adequate social-interactions. Since the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) is involved in both the categorization and the processing of social information, the primate LPFC may be involved in the categorization of social behaviors. To test this hypothesis, we examined neuronal activity in the LPFC of monkeys during presentations of two types of movies of social behaviors (grooming, mounting) and movies of plural monkeys without any eye- or body-contacts between them (no-contacts movies). Although the monkeys were not required to categorize and discriminate the movies in this task, a subset of neurons sampled from the LPFC showed a significantly different activity during the presentation of a specific type of social behaviors in comparison with the others. These neurons categorized social behaviors at the population level and, at the individual neuron level, the majority of the neurons discriminated each movie within the same category of social behaviors. Our findings suggest that a fraction of LPFC neurons process categorical and discriminative information of social behaviors, thereby contributing to the adaptation to social environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joji Tsunada
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neurobiology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
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44
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Charlton BD, Ellis WA, Brumm J, Nilsson K, Fitch WT. Female koalas prefer bellows in which lower formants indicate larger males. Anim Behav 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.09.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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45
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Visualizing sound emission of elephant vocalizations: evidence for two rumble production types. PLoS One 2012; 7:e48907. [PMID: 23155427 PMCID: PMC3498347 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2012] [Accepted: 10/02/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent comparative data reveal that formant frequencies are cues to body size in animals, due to a close relationship between formant frequency spacing, vocal tract length and overall body size. Accordingly, intriguing morphological adaptations to elongate the vocal tract in order to lower formants occur in several species, with the size exaggeration hypothesis being proposed to justify most of these observations. While the elephant trunk is strongly implicated to account for the low formants of elephant rumbles, it is unknown whether elephants emit these vocalizations exclusively through the trunk, or whether the mouth is also involved in rumble production. In this study we used a sound visualization method (an acoustic camera) to record rumbles of five captive African elephants during spatial separation and subsequent bonding situations. Our results showed that the female elephants in our analysis produced two distinct types of rumble vocalizations based on vocal path differences: a nasally- and an orally-emitted rumble. Interestingly, nasal rumbles predominated during contact calling, whereas oral rumbles were mainly produced in bonding situations. In addition, nasal and oral rumbles varied considerably in their acoustic structure. In particular, the values of the first two formants reflected the estimated lengths of the vocal paths, corresponding to a vocal tract length of around 2 meters for nasal, and around 0.7 meters for oral rumbles. These results suggest that African elephants may be switching vocal paths to actively vary vocal tract length (with considerable variation in formants) according to context, and call for further research investigating the function of formant modulation in elephant vocalizations. Furthermore, by confirming the use of the elephant trunk in long distance rumble production, our findings provide an explanation for the extremely low formants in these calls, and may also indicate that formant lowering functions to increase call propagation distances in this species'.
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46
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Vocal Tract Morphology Determines Species-Specific Features in Vocal Signals of Lemurs (Eulemur). INT J PRIMATOL 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-012-9635-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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47
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Joly O, Pallier C, Ramus F, Pressnitzer D, Vanduffel W, Orban GA. Processing of vocalizations in humans and monkeys: A comparative fMRI study. Neuroimage 2012; 62:1376-89. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.05.070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2011] [Revised: 05/24/2012] [Accepted: 05/25/2012] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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48
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Charlton BD, Ellis WAH, Larkin R, Fitch WT. Perception of size-related formant information in male koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). Anim Cogn 2012; 15:999-1006. [PMID: 22740017 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-012-0527-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2012] [Revised: 06/18/2012] [Accepted: 06/18/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Advances in bioacoustics allow us to study the perceptual and functional relevance of individual acoustic parameters. Here, we use re-synthesised male koala bellows and a habituation-dishabituation paradigm to test the hypothesis that male koalas are sensitive to shifts in formant frequencies corresponding to the natural variation in body size between a large and small adult male. We found that males habituated to bellows, in which the formants had been shifted to simulate a large or small male displayed a significant increase in behavioural response (dishabituation) when they were presented with bellows simulating the alternate size variant. The rehabituation control, in which the behavioural response levels returned to that of the last playbacks of the habituation phase, indicates that this was not a chance increase in response levels. Our results provide clear evidence that male koalas perceive and attend to size-related formant information in their own species-specific vocalisations and suggest that formant perception is a widespread ability shared by marsupials and placental mammals, and perhaps by vertebrates more widely.
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49
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Long-term memory for affiliates in ravens. Curr Biol 2012; 22:801-6. [PMID: 22521788 PMCID: PMC3348500 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.03.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2011] [Revised: 02/07/2012] [Accepted: 03/08/2012] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Complex social life requires individuals to recognize and remember group members [1] and, within those, to distinguish affiliates from nonaffiliates. Whereas long-term individual recognition has been demonstrated in some nonhuman animals [2–5], memory for the relationship valence to former group members has received little attention. Here we show that adult, pair-housed ravens not only respond differently to the playback of calls from previous group members and unfamiliar conspecifics but also discriminate between familiar birds according to the relationship valence they had to those subjects up to three years ago as subadult nonbreeders. The birds' distinction between familiar and unfamiliar individuals is reflected mainly in the number of calls, whereas their differentiation according to relationship valence is reflected in call modulation only. As compared to their response to affiliates, ravens responded to nonaffiliates by increasing chaotic parts of the vocalization and lowering formant spacing, potentially exaggerating the perceived impression of body size. Our findings indicate that ravens remember relationship qualities to former group members even after long periods of separation, confirming that their sophisticated social knowledge as nonbreeders is maintained into the territorial breeding stage.
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50
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Re DE, O'Connor JJM, Bennett PJ, Feinberg DR. Preferences for very low and very high voice pitch in humans. PLoS One 2012; 7:e32719. [PMID: 22403701 PMCID: PMC3293852 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0032719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2011] [Accepted: 01/30/2012] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Manipulations of voice pitch have been shown to alter attractiveness ratings, but whether preferences extend to very low or very high voice pitch is unknown. Here, we manipulated voice pitch in averaged men's and women's voices by 2 Hz intervals to create a range of male and female voices speaking monopthong vowel sounds and spanning a range of frequencies from normal to very low and very high pitch. With these voices, we used the method of constant stimuli to measure preferences for voice. Nineteen university students (ages: 20–25) participated in three experiments. On average, men preferred high-pitched women's voices to low-pitched women's voices across all frequencies tested. On average, women preferred men's voices lowered in pitch, but did not prefer very low men's voices. The results of this study may reflect selection pressures for men's and women's voices, and shed light on a perceptual link between voice pitch and vocal attractiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel E. Re
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jillian J. M. O'Connor
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Patrick J. Bennett
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - David R. Feinberg
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- * E-mail:
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