Inferring the trial-by-trial structure of pitch reinforcement learning in songbirds
ETH Zurich, 2019
Online
Hochschulschrift
Zugriff:
One of the most effective ways to train animals and humans to selectively change motor behaviors is by reinforcing desired behaviors using reward or punishment. Reinforcement learning theory provides a promising framework for modeling behavioral conditioning. It subsumes that a reinforced behavioral trial biases future trials via the correlation between exploration and reward. While we know that exploration is necessary for reinforcement learning, which part of motor variability constitutes exploration and how reinforcement acts on a trial-by-trial basis to improve future behavior is currently unknown. This thesis aims to differentiate between motor exploration (used for learning via its correlation with reward) and noise (inaccessible for learning) and suggests a simple behavioral model implementing this basic reinforcement learning strategy. Songbirds such as zebra finches provide a tractable model system to study neural mechanisms underlying trial-and-error processes of reinforcement learning. The learning and the neuronal mechanisms for song learning are very similar to the mechanisms for human speech learning. Furthermore, both spectral and temporal aspects of birdsong can be modified independently by delivering real-time auditory feedback (short bursts of noise) as aversive reinforcement contingent on the trials’ pitch (fundamental frequency) or duration. First, we test whether birds require auditory feedback of the exploratory motor behavior to be able to learn to adaptively change their pitch in a targeted direction. We modify the widely used reinforcement learning paradigm; By using visual feedback (brief events of light-off) instead of auditory feedback, we can teach deaf (and hearing) zebra finches to selectively modify their syllable’s pitch. This shows that reinforcement learning is possible without evaluation of vocal performance contrary to song learning in juveniles and song maintenance in adult birds that both critically depend on auditory feedback during performance. Hence, birds do not require ...
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Inferring the trial-by-trial structure of pitch reinforcement learning in songbirds
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Zai, Anja T. ; Hahnloser, Richard H.R. ; Senn, Walter ; Mante, Valerio |
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Veröffentlichung: | ETH Zurich, 2019 |
Medientyp: | Hochschulschrift |
DOI: | 10.3929/ethz-b-000382074 |
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