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| Homepage of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology |
 Staff of the Department Prof. Gahr
Publications of the members of the Department Prof. Gahr
Department Behavioural Neurobiology
Mechanisms of vocal learning and its sex-specific implementation
Director: Manfred Gahr
In most bird species, male singing behaviour functions for direct or indirect competition for females, and female mate choice involve
vocal performances of the males. In songbirds, songs consist of genetically determined and learned components. Further, learning is
changing female preferences for male songs. Thus, learning is crucial for both, the production of sexual signals and the response to
sexual signals, i.e. learning is central for vocalization-based sexual selection in songbirds. The acquisition of auditory memories,
the transformation of auditory memories into, and the use of motor memories is influenced by the physiological conditions and/or the
socio-sexual experience of an individual. This suggests that vocalization-based sexual selection in songbirds is anchored on the
life-history of males and females.
In order to produce learned sounds, birds need a "songbird" genetic background and sex steroids (androgens and estrogens) to develop
the neural vocal control system into a male or female configuration, which differs between species. Song production in adulthood is
sensitive to sex steroid hormones (androgens and estrogens) and other endocrine systems (e.g. melatonin) that signal environmental
changes (ecological and socio-sexual) to the vocal control.
The anatomically and functionally distinctness of the vocal system of songbirds as well as the large data base on natural behaviour of
songbirds makes the vocal system very attractive to study the genetic and environmental causes of neural sex differences and its
consequences for sexual behavior (sex specific functions). The projects are multidisciplinary and integrate works on the level of
behavior, of endocrinology, of neuroanatomy, of gene-expression, and of electrophysiology in constrained, semi-natural, and natural conditions.
Projects:
The molecular mechanisms that determine the differentiation
of the song control system
Sex hormones and cellular mechanisms of song learning
Hormone-dependent development and
importance of gender-specific brain structures
Electrophysiological studies of hormone dependent song learning and production
Song development under semi-natural conditions
Evolutionary and environmental physiology
Contact Assistant to the director
Nicole Hoiß
Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße
Haus Nr. 6a
82319 Seewiesen
Tel: +49 (0) 8157 932 - 240
Fax: +49 (0) 8157 932 - 260
Click on the name and then type the following text: 
 E-mail: Nicole Hoiß
 Website: http://www.orn.mpg.de/gahr/abtgahr.html
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