# Cell-type specific transcriptomes associated with vocal learning

> **NIH NIH F32** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $64,310

## Abstract

Acquisition of speech and language depends on vocal imitation of adult tutors, such as parents.
Songbirds provide the best experimental system for studying the neurobiology of vocal learning because they
acquire their songs by listening to adult tutors and then learn to produce them through a sensorimotor process
that is highly similar to speech learning. The cortical region HVC (proper name) is essential for song learning
and song production, and it is proposed to function analogously to the human premotor cortex. Despite more
than four decades of research, the fundamental cellular composition of HVC remains poorly understood.
Previous studies have revealed that multiple classes and sub-classes of projection neurons exist in HVC,
suggesting that the control of song production is much more complex than originally thought, although the
limitations of current electrophysiological and morphological techniques have been a major challenge to
comprehensive cell-type identification. To address this, the present proposal will perform the first high-throughput
classification of HVC cell types using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). The study will then examine how
the genomic profile of HVC is shaped by tutor experience to identify transcriptomic changes that may relate to
vocal learning. The experimental results may potentially transform frameworks for understanding the mechanistic
functioning of HVC and the generation of motor song production (i.e., complex, learned behavior) and also
elucidate some of the ways in which the brain is shaped by the sensory environment to facilitate the acquisition
of vocalizations. This work ultimately aims to improve our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying
speech production and motor behavior at a previously-unattainable level of cellular resolution. The research
strategy described in this proposal will provide the applicant, Dr. Devin Merullo, with novel training in high-
throughput bioinformatic techniques and precisely-targeted circuit and cellular manipulations. This proposal is a
unique collaborative opportunity between the sponsor, Dr. Todd Roberts, and co-sponsor, Dr. Genevieve
Konopka, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. The efforts outlined in this proposal will thus
prepare Dr. Merullo for an independent research career and lead to the application of novel methodologies in
songbirds, thereby enabling research questions to be addressed in a way that has been largely unavailable until
now.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10019344
- **Project number:** 5F32NS112557-02
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Devin Merullo
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $64,310
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-12 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10019344

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10019344, Cell-type specific transcriptomes associated with vocal learning (5F32NS112557-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10019344. Licensed CC0.

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