# Neural Mechanisms of Social Communication in Parrots

> **NIH NIH R34** · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $689,222

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
When Confucius said, “Tell me who are your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are,” he was noticing that how we
behave and communicate is shaped by who we choose to hang out with every day. We constantly mimic the
mannerisms and behaviors of friends and loved ones. Yet the neural basis of how we imitate, and more
importantly who we choose to emulate and why, is largely unknown. Parrots provide a powerful yet untapped
model system for social learning. Parrots, like humans and non-human primates, live in a specific type of ‘fission-
fusion’ social network in which making and maintaining friendships is the key to fitness. Like humans, they
selectively imitate and learn the names of their carefully selected companions. Here we aim to launch parrots as
a new animal model in systems neuroscience. In aims 1, we will record neural activity in the vocal motor cortical
output of the song system (nucleus AAC) in pairs of budgerigars engaged in courtship interactions. In these first-
ever neural recordings form awake, behaving parrots, we are finding that AAC neurons exhibit premotor signals
for vocalizations (as expected) and for expressive gestures such as silent kissing, head-bobbing and
allogrooming. This joint vocal and gestural neural control, observed in human Broca’s area but not in songbirds
– means that what was thought to be a songbird-like ‘song system’ is actually a more general system for social
interaction. We next test the causal relationship between song system activity and social behavior. Inactivating
AAC during courtship interactions will test if/how vocalizations and gestures degrade or lose their coordination
(Aim 2.1). Inactivating frontal or posterior cortical inputs to AAC in bonded pairs will test the songbird-inspired
idea that variability and order depend on distinct cortical pathways (Aim 2.2). For each inactivation experiment,
a pair of interacting birds is conceptualized as a single dynamical system – and we will use machine learning
guided behavioral analysis to quantify how vocalizations and gestures change (or do not) in both the inactivated
and non-inactivated partner. Finally, in Aim 3 we will image dopamine (DA) release using fiber photometry and
genetically encoded DA sensors. Pilot data demonstrate feasibility of DA imaging in singing birds. These
experiments will test for the first time if DA signals, known to evaluate the quality of reward outcomes, similarly
evaluate social outcomes. Courtship dynamics are perfect because gestural ‘requests’ to allogroom or ‘kiss’ are
rejected or accepted with visually and acoustically obvious ‘consent’ or ‘deny’ signals. Males make hundreds of
advances per day and use female feedback to learn – providing natural trial structure, within-session learning,
and ‘events’ to which we can align simultaneously recorded male and female DA signals – which may or may
not come into alignment as a pair ‘decides’ to bond or not. Budgerigar interactions resemble human
conversations...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10207958
- **Project number:** 1R34NS121898-01
- **Recipient organization:** CORNELL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jesse Heymann Goldberg
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $689,222
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-04-15 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10207958

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10207958, Neural Mechanisms of Social Communication in Parrots (1R34NS121898-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10207958. Licensed CC0.

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