Laboratory for Biolinguistics
Research Areas
| Although language is a unique human behavior, several sub-faculties that enabled language could be shared with non-human animals. In particular, birdsong and rodent communication signals are important subjects in understanding the biological origin of human language. Bengalese finches, a species of songbird, sing complex songs with finite-state song syntax. Naked mole-rats and degus, rodent species, both utilize more than 17 types of vocal tokens to coordinate their social behavior. We use non-invasive techniques to study language perception and speech development in human infants and integrate these findings with those obtained from animal experiments. Our aim is to present a biological scenario for the origin of language. To attain this goal, we use a broad range of approaches, from developmental psychology to molecular genetics. |  Laboratory Head Kazuo OKANOYA (Ph.D.)  |
Research Subjects
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List of Selected Publications
| (1) | Soma, M., Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, M., and Okanoya, K.: "Early ontogenetic effects on song quality in the Bengalese finch (Lonchura striata var. domestica): laying order, sibling competition and song syntax." Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 63, 363-370. (2009). |
| (2) | Abla, D., Katahira, K., and Okanoya, K.: "Online assessment of statistical learning by event-related potentials." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20, 952-964. (2008). |
| (3) | Katahira, K., Abla, D., Masuda, S., and Okanoya, K.: "Feedback-based error monitoring processes during musical performance: An ERP study." Neuroscience Research, 61, 120-128. (2008). |
| (4) | Matsunaga, E. and Okanoya, K.: "Expression analysis of cadherins in the songbird brain: relationship to vocal system development." Journal of Comparative Neurology, 508, 329-342. (2008). |
| (5) | Nishikawa, J., Okada, M., and Okanoya, K.: "Population coding of song element sequence in the Bengalese finch HVC." European Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 3273-3283. (2008). |
| (6) | Okanoya, K., Tokimoto, N., Kumazawa, N., Hihara, S., and Iriki, A.: "Tool-use training in species of rodent: the emergence of an optimal motor strategy and functional understanding." PLoS One, 3, e18601-e18608. (2008). |
| (7) | Seki, Y., Suzuki, K., Takahasi, M., and Okanoya, K.: "Song Motor control organizes acoustic patterns on two levels in Bengalese Wnches (Lonchura striata var. domestica)." Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 194, 533-543. (2008). |
| (8) | Okanoya, K.: "Language evolution and an emergent property." Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 17, 271-276. (2007). |
| (9) | Katahira, K., Okanoya, K., and Okada, M.: "A neural network model for generating complex birdsong syntax." Biological Cybernetics, 97, 441-448. (2007). |
| (10) | Okanoya, K.: "Song syntax in Bengalese finches: proximate and ultimate analyses." Advance in the Study of Behaviour, 34, 297-346. (2004). |