ArticleScientific reports2018
Prenatal exposure to incubation calls affects song learning in the zebra finch.
Article in Scientific reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multiome Profiling Reveals Astrocyte and Neuroendocrine Targets of Prenatal Acoustic Programming in Zebra Finch Embryos.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Prehatch Calls and Coordinated Birth in Turtles.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Lasting benefits of embryonic eavesdropping on parent-parent communication.Science advances · 2024Article
- The central role of the individual in the history of brains.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Review
- Exposure to calls before hatching affects the post-hatching behaviour of domestic chickens.Royal Society open science · 2024Article
- Parental developmental experience affects vocal learning in offspring.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Age effects in Darwin's finches: older males build more concealed nests in areas with more heterospecific singing neighbors.Journal of ornithology · 2024Article
- Article
- Adult-like neural representation of species-specific songs in the auditory forebrain of zebra finch nestlings.Developmental neurobiology · 2021Article
- Introductory gestures before songbird vocal displays are shaped by learning and biological predispositions.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Vocal panting: a novel thermoregulatory mechanism for enhancing heat tolerance in a desert-adapted bird.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- The dynamic eggs of the Phasmatodea and their apparent convergence with plants.Die Naturwissenschaften · 2020Review
- Variable ambient temperature promotes song learning and production in zebra finches.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Songbirds are important models for understanding the mechanisms and fitness consequences of imitative vocal learning. Although the effects of early-life environmental and social conditions on song learning are well-established, the impact of early sound exposure has received surprisingly little attention. Yet recent evidence hints at auditory sensitivity in songbird embryos, including in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), a classic model species for song learning. Here, we tested whether prenatal exposure to incubation calls-highly rhythmic parental vocalisations produced on the nest-affected song learning in zebra finches. Embryos were exposed in the egg to either incubation (treatment) or contact (control) calls, and after hatching were reared in a large colony. The playback treatment did not affect song complexity nor the accuracy of song copying from the social father, but instead increased learning of non-paternal song syllables. This, in turn, improved males' mounting success in mating trials. These effects may be attributable to changes in juvenile social behaviours, as playback also influenced male behaviour during mating trials. Our study provides the first experimental evidence that prenatal acoustic environment affects song learning and courtship behaviour in songbirds, thereby raising interesting questions on the role of innate versus acquired biases for vocal learning.
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