Developmental Regulation of Basal Ganglia Circuitry during the Sensitive Period for Vocal Learning in Songbirds
A hallmark of sensitive periods of development is an enhanced capacity for learning, such that experience exerts a profound effect on the brain resulting in the establishment of behaviors and underlying neural circuitry that can last a lifetime. Songbirds, like humans, have a sensitive period for vocal learning
zebra finch song system sensorimotor integration nmda receptor silent synapses postsynaptic potentials axon pruning topography corollary discharge