Biomedical subjects

Rodrigo Laje

Publications and source records attributed to Rodrigo Laje.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Modeling source-source and source-filter acoustic interaction in birdsong.

We present a simple model for birdsong production in Oscine songbirds that allows us to study the acoustic interaction between their two sound sources, as well as the acoustic coupling between sources and vocal tract. This model allows us to study complex phenomena in which the traditionally assumed source-filter separation hypothesis does not hold. We make testable hypotheses about the source of complexity in the song of some birds.

Acoustics↗

PubMed2003

Highly structured duets in the song of the South American Hornero.

The South American Hornero (Furnarius rufus) is a suboscine bird widely known for its mud-made, oven-looking nest. Beyond their architectural skills, the male and female Horneros sing in highly structured duets. The analysis of field recordings reported in this work reveals that as the male increases the note production rate the female responds by switching to different locking states: the ones predicted by the theory of nonlinear forced oscillators. This gives the duet a most appealing rhythm, and unveils the nonlinear nature of the underlying brain activity needed to generate the song.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Diversity within a birdsong.

We present a model for the activities of neural circuits in a nucleus found in the brains of songbirds: the robust nucleus of the archistriatum (RA). This is a fore brain song control nucleus responsible for the phasic and precise neural signals driving vocal and respiratory motor neurons during singing. Driving a physical model of the avian vocal organ with the signals generated by the neural model, we produce synthetic songs. This allows us to show that certain connectivity architectures in the RA give rise to a wide range of different vocalizations under simple excitatory instructions.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Neuromuscular control of vocalizations in birdsong: a model.

We present a dynamical model of the processes involved in birdsong production, relating qualitatively its parameters with biological ones. In this way, we intend to unify the activity patterns of the muscles controlling the vocal organ with the resulting vocalization. With relatively simple paths in the parameter space of our model, we reproduce experimental recordings of the Chingolo sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis).

Journal Article↗