July 3, 2019, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Tobin Hall Room 423
Marcela Fernandez-Peters
Visiting Assistant Professor
Healey Lab
Psychological and Brain Sciences
Effects of neural aromatase on auditory scene processing in songbirds
Songbirds like humans are highly social and gregarious species that communicate under often variable and significant levels of background noise. Neurons in the avian secondary auditory cortex (caudomedial nidopallium, NCM) are tolerant to significant levels of background noise. In addition, NCM’s auditory response is known to be modulated by brain estrogens during song exposure. Therefore, I am currently examining whether blocking estrogen production impairs discrimination of song embedded in noise. Ongoing research suggests a potential role of neuroestrogens in contextual processing of complex auditory scenes.