A synaptic locus of song learning
Learning by imitation is the foundation for verbal and musical expression, but its underlying neural basis remains obscure. A juvenile male zebra finch imitates the multisyllabic song of an adult tutor in a process that depends on a song-specialized cortico-basal ganglia circuit, affording a powerful system to identify the synaptic substrates of imitative motor learning. Plasticity at a particular set of cortico-basal ganglia synapses is hypothesized to drive rapid learning-related changes in song before these changes are subsequently consolidated in downstream circuits. Nevertheless, this hypothesis is untested and the synaptic locus where learning initially occurs is unknown. By combining a computational framework to quantify song learning with synapse-specific optogenetic and chemogenetic manipulations within and directly downstream of the cortico-basal ganglia circuit, we identified the specific cortico-basal ganglia synapses that drive the acquisition and expression of rapid vocal changes during juvenile song learning and characterized the hours-long timescale over which these changes consolidate. Furthermore, transiently augmenting postsynaptic activity in the basal ganglia briefly accelerates learning rates and persistently alters song, demonstrating a direct link between basal ganglia activity and rapid learning. These results localize the specific cortico-basal ganglia synapses that enable a juvenile songbird to learn to sing and reveal the circuit logic and behavioral timescales of this imitative learning paradigm. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. National Institutes of Health, K99 NS144525 (DCS), F32 MH132152 (DCS), F31 HD098772 (SB), R01 NS099288 (RM), RF1 NS118424 (RM and JP)
Where does learning through imitation happen in the brain?
In juvenile zebra finches, we pinpoint a synaptic locus of song learning in a cortico-basal ganglia circuit and leverage this localization to measure the timescale of consolidation and make birds learn faster! #neuroskyence (1/14)
21.01.2026 16:39 β π 70 π 26 π¬ 5 π 7
No thank you. I've seen this show before.
21.01.2026 15:42 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Consulting firm bro at work. Preparing slide decks
20.01.2026 00:51 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Capitalism is ridiculously funny.
19.01.2026 21:57 β π 16 π 3 π¬ 1 π 1
Ok, then I will throw in my 150% endorsement!!
18.01.2026 02:21 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Totally forgot the bear. Should go on the poster for the next year's event...
18.01.2026 00:01 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
I think that should be the norm. After all as they say in QUBS: two hands, two cookies, right?... We should be allowed to experience sweets, twice...
18.01.2026 00:00 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
You will have a redeeming week, and will meet caring, brilliant people, which will make you realize why why why you signed up for this job...
And there will be amazing coffee, right Gunnar?
17.01.2026 23:57 β π 6 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0
Congrats, Kaue!
14.01.2026 19:26 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
With some trepidation, I'm putting this out into the world:
gershmanlab.com/textbook.html
It's a textbook called Computational Foundations of Cognitive Neuroscience, which I wrote for my class.
My hope is that this will be a living document, continuously improved as I get feedback.
09.01.2026 01:27 β π 581 π 237 π¬ 16 π 10
Thrilled to see the first preprint of the lab out π€© Check it out if you need to compare dynamics in your data and RNN (or any other combinations of dynamical systems)!
08.01.2026 16:37 β π 45 π 9 π¬ 0 π 0
I was just informed on Slack: WE paid a $388 tariff on a $782 bill for an imported lab equipment. Nice!
08.01.2026 18:59 β π 2 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
Want your renovation project at your favorite uni to move faster? Open a Kalshi tab on the completion date and send a link to the higher-ups, your contractors, or, I don't know, your state senate, the federalis. Let the markets do their magic!
Will this wall be painted before April 1, 2028? Bid!
08.01.2026 15:35 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
In this analogy, universities become museums of science
04.01.2026 17:03 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
At best, I see myself as a science 'curator'.
The days are gone when you were the person in the room who knew more facts about the subject matter. Now there is a device in everyone's pocket that knows more than you and I combined. What we could do, if anything, is design a learning trajectory...
04.01.2026 17:02 β π 5 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Oh wait. Do flies have brains? π€―
02.01.2026 22:01 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
That field can even be a poster hall. Let's meet there
02.01.2026 17:37 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
2026: everything everywhere all at once
01.01.2026 18:54 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Excited to hear more!
Yes. Indeed sir. See you at GRC.
30.12.2025 21:24 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
To date, this is the most convincing demonstration of nicotinic modulation of DA release (a subject close to my heart), conducted to Arifian standards of rigor. Kudos to Arif and team for this comprehensive and conclusive study. I saw the poster at SfN and cannot wait to read it carefully for our JC
30.12.2025 14:21 β π 11 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0
Started watching Pluribus. At first it felt like another COVID story, but soon after it turned into a narrative of a post AI history narrative where everyone knows everything and no one is anybody... Fascinating dark satire
28.12.2025 03:00 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Good to know π
15.12.2025 14:49 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Lindsay Lab - Postdoc Position
Artificial neural networks applied to psychology, neuroscience, and climate change
Spread the word: I'm looking to hire a postdoc to explore the concept of attention (as studied in psych/neuro, not the transformer mechanism) in large Vision-Language Models. More details here: lindsay-lab.github.io/2025/12/08/p...
#MLSky #neurojobs #compneuro
08.12.2025 23:53 β π 125 π 91 π¬ 2 π 0
Congratulations π
08.12.2025 23:58 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
"It was tailor-made to fit the valleyβs technological and entrepreneurial ethos β endless workdays, relentless competition, the obsessive need to innovate. The drug traded hands as quickly as the latest packet-switching technology. IBM, Lockheed, Syntex, HP...."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
06.12.2025 15:54 β π 5 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
The entire global politics seems like a sketch comedy.
05.12.2025 17:44 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Excellent talk! Thank you for sharing your awesome work with us.
01.12.2025 23:58 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Indeed. Hence the hour long walk in the snow last night. Lovely. Good to be back in the snow country.
30.11.2025 17:47 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Madison gardens. Last night!
30.11.2025 16:48 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Postdoc in the Uchida lab, Harvard
postbac in Dr. David Lovinger's lab at NIAAA, future physician-scientist, Thom Yorke enthusiast, Rubik's cubes, cycling, CV
Neuroscientist interested in neurobiology and neuropharmacology of drug addiction
PhD Student in Computational Neuroscience and Applied AI at UNICOG NeuroSpin CEA & ICN NeuroPSI CNRS.
Antifascist and anti-imperialist passionated about natural sciences, philosophy, consciousness, and mathematics.
Biophile all day everyday.
Subverter of the dominant paradigm
Postdoc in Maimon Lab at Rockefeller University
Pretending to be a behavior/systems neuroscientist
Contributing Opinion Writer, NY Times. Author: Undoing Drugs, Unbroken Brain, Help At Any Cost; Co-auth: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog & Born for Love (w/ Bruce D. Perry). Addiction, autism, neuroscience, troubled-teen industry, harm reduction, cats.
Understanding life. Advancing health.
Postdoc in the Calipari lab | Social Media for Stories of WiN | Leading Edge Fellow | Topo Chico Fanatic
lujanlab.org | Neuroscientist. Assistant professor (TT), LujΓ‘n Lab at UIC. Dopamine, endocannabinoids, systems neuroscience | Soccer & blue guitars.
Computational neuroscientist @princetonneuro.bsky.social deciphering natural and advancing artificial intelligence.
Neuroscience Ph.D candidate at Northwestern Univesity π§ | Parker Lab | University of Michigan Alum γ½οΈ /
| Roberts Lab Alumni
Researcher interested in the neurobiology of learned &innate behaviors;
main expertise: in vivo ephys, optogenetics & behavior
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JBYjngsAAAAJ&hl=hu
https://koki.hun-ren.hu/researchgroups/subcortical-modulation
cybernetic cognitive control π€
computational cognitive neuroscience π§
postdoc princeton neuro π
he/him π¨π¦ harrisonritz.github.io
PhD student at UW-Madison Psychology and Gender and Women's Studies. Studying sexual wellbeing, objectification, and romantic relationships.
Interested in collective decision making
@Salk Institute
Neuroscientist at The Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, UCL, in London. Leading the "Learning, Inference & Memory" laboratory. Accidental advocate of #longcovid
https://www.lim.bio/
Associate editor, opinion and community @thetransmitter.bsky.social. Posts about neuroscience, TV shows, Bad Bunny and the Knicks. Educado en la 804 en π΅π·. Views expressed are my own.
https://www.thetransmitter.org/contributor/francisco-j-rivera-rosario
Cognitive neuroscientist studying how we see and think about the physical world.
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
https://paulunlab.psych.wisc.edu/
she/her
