Study
Central control of song in the canary, Serinus canarius
Nottebohm, Fernando; Stokes, Tegner M.; Leonard, Christiana M.
Journal of Comparative Neurology, 1976
Discrete regions of the canary forebrain were lesioned and the effect on song production recorded, alongside anatomical tracing of the connections between the regions and the muscles of the syrinx.
- Studied in
- Serinus canaria
- Sample size
- canaries with lesions to candidate forebrain regions
A specific interconnected set of forebrain regions was found to be necessary for normal song, with lesions producing loss or severe degradation of song, and the pathway traced from forebrain to the motor neurons controlling the syrinx.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Song is controlled by a discrete, identifiable network of forebrain nuclei with a defined descending motor pathway.
How NatureHQ reads it
The paper that made birdsong a model system for the whole of neuroscience. A learned behaviour with a dedicated, mappable circuit that can be lesioned, recorded from and compared between individuals is a rare thing; almost everything known about how a brain acquires a complex motor skill through practice and feedback has been worked out here first. It is also where the standard caution belongs: showing that a region is necessary for a behaviour is not showing what the region does.
- Lesion studies establish necessity, not function; a region required for song is not thereby the place where song is stored.
- Canaries are open-ended learners with unusually large seasonal changes, which is what made the effects visible and also makes them atypical.
- The anatomy is far better characterised than the computation, and remained so for decades.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Vocal learning
Learned song runs on a specific, mappable set of brain regions with a direct line to the muscles of the voice box — and the birds that cannot learn song do not have that line.
Vocal learning
In some songbirds the brain regions that control song grow substantially in the singing season and shrink again afterwards — in adults.
Published by: Wiley journalsPublished in a Wiley journal.
Checked against Crossref and OpenAlex on 2026-09-28, and they agree on the title, the authors and the year.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-09-02.