# Neural and behavioral mechanisms of song learning in zebra finches

> **NIH NIH F31** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $41,667

## Abstract

Project Summary
Many of our most impressive skills, such as those supporting extreme athletic talent or precise musical
expression, are learned by imitating the skilled performance of a tutor. To successfully imitate a tutor, a pupil
must generate a range of behaviors, evaluate them relative to an example of the tutor, and then reinforce those
that are similar to that example. The generated behaviors are often highly elaborate and produced without any
source of comparison other than the pupil's internal template. As such, imitative learning depends intimately on
the pupil's ability to evaluate and reinforce its own performance in the absence of any extrinsic reward or
instruction. The brain mechanisms that support imitative learning remain poorly understood, although it is well
known that the basal ganglia (BG) play a central role in classical forms of reinforcement learning. How the BG
evaluates and reinforces behavioral variants over the course of imitative learning remains uncertain. In my
research I will characterize the relationship between neural activity in the BG, behavioral exploration,
and reinforcement during imitative learning. My Specific Aims are: 1) To model the imitative learning
process by which songbirds explore subsyllabic structure within song. 2) To jointly model vocal variability and
BG circuit activity during song learning. Aim 1 will advance our understanding of the behavioral mechanisms of
vocal learning and develop computational frameworks for understanding complex learning processes, while
Aim 2 will relate neural variability in the BG to vocal variability during these learning processes. The analyses
and models I create in this proposal will both provide insight into the song learning process in zebra finches
and create a more general framework for studying complex skill learning. I will conduct this research under the
supervision of Drs. John Pearson and Richard Mooney, a team of accomplished, interdisciplinary mentors with
complementary skillsets. Their collaboration has already proven to be fruitful. I will work closely with members
of the Mooney lab to hone our scientific questions, refine our experimental design, and develop our analyses.
In doing so I will build a balanced set of theoretical and experimental skills. I bring a deep passion for
understanding complex behavior on both behavioral and neural scales, in addition to expertise in behavioral
and computational methods. The experience I gain from this proposal will make me a competitive and
independent investigator, accelerating me towards my long-term goal of obtaining a faculty position at a
research institute.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11007159
- **Project number:** 5F31NS132469-02
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Miles Martinez
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $41,667
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-06-01 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11007159

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11007159, Neural and behavioral mechanisms of song learning in zebra finches (5F31NS132469-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11007159. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*