Biology subjects

Sakata, J. T.

Publications and source records attributed to Sakata, J. T..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Zebra finch females flexibly communicate with each other and with AI-driven acoustic interaction models

Vocal interactions are fundamental for social functioning across animals, including humans. The diverse rules underlying these exchanges remain largely unknown, and emerging AI technologies offer promising avenues for investigation. We used computational tools to collect and analyze >1,000 hours of vocal interactions between female zebra finches and discovered that their interactions were characterized by correlated call production and structure, rapid acoustic modulation, and response selectivity. To test these interaction rules, we developed a generative audio large language model (ZF-AIM Acoustic Interaction Model) that engaged in real-time vocal exchanges with birds. When birds interacted with ZF-AIM, their vocal production and flexibility recapitulated key naturalistic features, which did not happen with non-interactive playbacks. Targeted ablations of ZF-AIM revealed that call timing and structure differentially contribute to natural vocal interactions. Using these AI-animal interactions, we demonstrate how AI can be leveraged to reveal fundamental rules underlying animal communication.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2025

Humans share acoustic preferences with other animals

Many animals produce sounds during courtship and receivers prefer some sounds over others. Shared ancestry and convergent evolution may generate similarities in preference across species and could underlie Darwins conjecture that some animals "have nearly the same taste for the beautiful as we have". Here, we show that humans share acoustic preferences with a wide range of animals, that the strength of human preferences correlates with that in other animals, and that human responses are quicker when in agreement with animals. Furthermore, we found greatest agreement in preference for adorned, evolutionarily ancestral, and lower frequency sounds. Humans music listening experience was associated with preferences. These results are consistent with theories arguing that biases in sensory and cognitive processing sculpt acoustic preferences and confirm Darwins century-old hunch about the conservation of aesthetics in nature.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2024

Temporal variability enhances vocal learning

Species-typical behaviors are organized into species-typical patterns, and deviations away from these patterns often diminish the strength of behavioral and sensory responses to such stimuli. In songbirds like the zebra finch, species-typical songs consist of acoustic elements (syllables) arranged into stereotyped (i.e., highly predictable) sequences with stereotyped timing. However, the degree to which deviations away from these stereotyped temporal patterns modulate the strength of vocal learning (i.e., the fidelity of vocal imitation) remains unknown. Here we tutored 123 juvenile zebra finches with stimuli that varied in the stereotypy of syllable sequencing and timing. In contrast to the prediction that deviations away from species-typical stereotypy would diminish vocal learning, deviations from sequence or timing stereotypy did not decrease how well juveniles imitated the acoustic structure of syllables. Moreover, presenting syllables in species-atypical sequences (i.e., randomized syllable sequences) enhanced vocal imitation in birds that were tutored later in development. This unexpected enhancement of birdsong learning by sequence variability resembles the effects of contextual diversity on speech acquisition and indicates that such variability can benefit learning even for very stereotyped behaviors. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTLittle is known about the degree to which the temporal patterning of acoustic elements ("syllables") modulates vocal learning and imitation. We tested the contribution of temporal variability in syllable sequencing and timing, hypothesizing that deviations away from species-typical stereotypy (predictability) in syllable sequence and timing patterns would diminish the strength of vocal learning. In contrast to our predictions, deviations from sequence and timing stereotypy did not decrease vocal learning. Moreover, presenting syllables in random sequences enhanced vocal imitation in birds that were tutored later in development. This unexpected finding highlights that sequence complexity can potentiate vocal learning in individuals with more developed vocal control, resembling how complexity and ability interact to modulate various forms of learning in humans.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2022

Fidelity of and biases in the developmental acquisition of song tempo in a songbird

The temporal organization of sounds used in social contexts can provide information about signal function and evoke varying responses in listeners (receivers). For example, music is a universal and learned human behavior that is characterized by different rhythms and tempos that can evoke disparate responses in listeners. Similarly, birdsong is a ubiquitous social behavior in birds that is learned during critical periods in development and used to evoke physiological and behavioral responses in listeners. Recent investigations have begun to reveal the breadth of universal patterns in birdsong and their similarity to common patterns in speech and music, but relatively little is known about the degree to which biological predispositions and developmental experiences interact to shape the temporal patterning of birdsong. Here, we investigated how biological predispositions modulate the acquisition and production of an important temporal feature of birdsong, namely the duration of silent intervals ("gaps") between vocal elements ("syllables"). Through analyses of semi-naturally raised and experimentally tutored zebra finches, we observed that juvenile zebra finches imitate the durations of the silent gaps in their tutors song with high fidelity and can "alter" the durations of gaps toward a central duration. When juveniles were experimentally tutored with stimuli containing a wide range of gap durations, we observed biases in the stereotypy but not in the central tendency of gap durations. Together, these studies demonstrate how biological predispositions and developmental experiences differently affect distinct temporal features of birdsong and highlight similarities in developmental plasticity across birdsong, speech, and music.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2019

Behavioural responses to video and live presentations of females reveal a dissociation between performance and motivational aspects of birdsong

Understanding the regulation of social behavioural expression requires insight into motivational and performance aspects of social behaviours. While a number of studies have independently investigated motivational or performance aspects of social behaviours, few have examined how these aspects relate to each other. By comparing behavioural variation in response to live or video presentations of conspecific females, we analysed how variation in the motivation to produce courtship song covaries with variation in performance aspects of courtship song in male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Consistent with previous reports, we observed that male zebra finches were less motivated to produce courtship songs to videos of females than to live presentations of females. However, we found that acoustic features that reflect song performance were indistinguishable between songs produced to videos of females and songs produced to live presentations of females. For example, songs directed at video presentations of females were just as fast and stereotyped as songs directed at live females. These experimental manipulations and correlational analyses reveal a dissociation between motivational and performance aspects of birdsong and suggest a refinement of neural models of song production and control. In addition, they support the efficacy of videos to study both motivational and performance aspects of social behaviours.

animal behavior and cognition↗