Topic: pitch reinforcement

Optimal motor performance requires flexible adjustments to behavior depending on different contexts. This idea has gained wide support from behavioral and computational studies, but remains poorly understood at the neural level. Bengalese finch (Lonchura striata) song is a learned motor sequence composed of discrete elements, or syllables. Adult finches can learn to modify the pitch of individual syllables in a gradual way, supported by a well-understood cortical-basal ganglia circuit, the AFP (anterior forebrain pathway). We here tested whether adult finches can use arbitrary contextual cues