Brain, Movement, and Song

This workshop will provide a gross overview of brain anatomy with a focus on how the brain controls movement, and the voice in particular.

Motivating case

• Meet the Chimpanzees: Viki and Washoe
• Why can Apes use sing language, but not speak or sing?
• Is there something special about the way that the human brain controls the voice?

Gross brain primer

• The four lobes
• Grey matter vs white matter
• Networks

Neuroscience of movement

• Primary motor cortex
  • Somatotopy
  • Descending motor pathways
  • Movement from electrical stimulation
  • Paresis from damage, e.g., stroke

• Cortico-striatal loop
  • Functions
    • Executing motor plans
    • Learning new motor plans
  • Anatomical components & their connections
    • Supplementary Motor Area
    • Basal Ganglia
    • Thalamus
  • Relevant disorders
    • Parkinson’s disease
    • Huntington’s disease

• Cortico-Cerebellar Loop
  • Functions
    • Correcting movement errors
    • Sensory feedback
  • Anatomical components
    • Cerebellum
    • Thalamus

• An example from Dance: fMRI Tango!
  • Lead with your cortico-striatal loop
  • Follow with your cortico-cerebellar loop

Neuroscience of song

• Specialisation for voice motor control
  • Uniqueness to humans
  • Electrical stimulation & Lesions
  • Brain imaging studies
    • Song
    • Speech
    • Emotions

Birdsong

• Avian song production system
  • Analogy with human primary motor cortex
• Avian song learning system
  • Analogy with human cortico-striatal loop
• Brain imaging evidence
  • Vocal imitation fMRI

Summary

• Humans share a motor system with other mammals
• But with some voice specialisation
• Similar specialisation also appear in songbirds