| dc.description.abstract | The dichotic listening (DL) task is a method for studying auditory attentional processes and investigating lateralization of auditory processing in humans. For the majority of people with left hemispheric dominance (LHD), there is a right ear advantage (REA) in auditory processing. Bengalese finches have similar brain regions specialized for learned vocalizations that are analogous to human language centers and are often used as a model for vocal and auditory processes in humans. There is a significant history of research supporting lateralization and LHD in Bengalese finches, and we therefore predicted that birds tested in a modified DL task would also display REA and vary in the latency, number, and amplitude of calls generated in response to stimuli to either the left or right ear. In order to create a paradigm for such a task in finches, we tested individual birds in a series of experiments, examining the effects of different stimuli and environmental conditions on the calling behaviors of 7 female Bengalese finches. We modified an existing blueprint for creating miniature headphones to play stimuli specifically to either the left or the right ear while the other ear received white noise or silence. | |
