“I research the type of learning that we humans use to learn our speech. This is called vocal learning. Children do this naturally, but when we learn a new language as adults, we also use this method. It is a special form of learning where we try to imitate the sounds and tones we hear. Not only humans do this, but songbirds also learn in this way. In humans, you can make brain scans, but you cannot conduct tests at the cellular level. Therefore, we use laboratory animals for this research.
We study zebra finches. These songbirds are often used for this type of research because they learn their song in a short time, and by recording their singing, we can precisely measure the learning outcome. In part of the experiments, we make many recordings of the parents and the young and compare them. This way, you can manipulate the conditions and see if it affects the learning of the song.
To measure brain activity in birds, we use various techniques. At the moment, we are mainly working with a new microscopy technique, where the birds have their own miniature microscope mounted on their heads. This way, we can compare the response to multiple sounds in one bird and follow brain activity during learning experiences.
We also apply a lot of refinement by giving the birds as much social contact, space, and cage enrichment as possible. This is not only good for the welfare of the birds but also for the research results. It is very important for the young to learn the song well from their parents, and the birds sing more when they are less stressed. We continuously work on reducing and refining animal experiments.”