In this Dissertation, I report parallel processing in the avian vocal premotor nucleus HVC. First, I review historical ideas
and recent evidence about the function of HVC. HVC has historically been viewed as a distributed network, and it has been modeled as an
associative chain. Recent evidence shows that HVC intraconnectivity is biased along the rostral-caudal axis and that transecting HVC along
the rostral-caudal axis does not disrupt singing. This evidence casts doubt on the historical views of HVC organization. Next, I explore
the cytoarchitecture of HVC in order to determine whether distinct subregions within HVC exist. I then ablate these subregions to
determine their functional significance. I find that the lateral portions of HVC encode the repertoire of song syllables, while the medial
portions of HVC encode the sequence in which the syllables are sung. Finally, I utilize reversible inactivation of these subregions to
confirm their functions. These results are the first evidence for parallel processing within the avian song control network and correspond
with recent evidence for parallel processing in the neural control of human speech. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of
Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2016. / April 11, 2016. / HVC, parallel processing, sequential behavior, zebra finch / Includes bibliographical references. / Frank Johnson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Walter Tschinkel, University Representative;
Richard Bertram, Committee Member; Neil Charness, Committee Member; Richard Hyson, Committee Member; Wei Wu, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_360320 |
| Contributors | Basista, Mark Jonathan (authoraut), Johnson, Frank (professor directing dissertation), Tschinkel, Walter R. (Walter Reinhart) (university representative), Bertram, R. (Richard) (committee member), Charness, Neil (committee member), Hyson, Richard Lee (committee member), Wu, Wei (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of Psychology (degree granting department) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (89 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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