Teachers

Each animal species exhibits distinct behavioral patterns.How have these species-specific behaviors evolved from a common ancestor through speciation processes? It is thought that the speciation of behavior is closely tied to the speciation of neural circuits that regulate these behaviors. I am conducting research using songbirds, which exhibit species-specific songs, as a model to understand what differences in neural circuits produce species-specific songs. Furthermore, I aim to elucidate the evolutionary processes that have led to these circuit differences, from a comprehensive perspective that integrates genomics, neuroscience, and ethology.

What bases underpin the acquisition of species-specific behaviors in animals?

Songbirds, which produce species-specific songs through anatomically conserved neural circuits, serve as an excellent model organism for investigating behavioral speciation.

References

• A predisposed motor bias shapes individuality in vocal learning. N. Toji, A. Sawai, H. Wang, Y. Ji, R. Sugioka, Y. Go, K. Wada. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 2024, 121(3), e2308837121
• Expansion of learning capacity elicited by interspecific hybridization. Y. Shibata, N. Toji, H. Wang, Y. Go, K. Wada. Science Advances, 2024, 10: eadn3409, 2024
• Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in a songbird brain. N.C. Asogwa, N. Toji, Z. He, C. Shao, Y. Shibata, S. Tatsumoto, H. Ishikawa, Y. Go, K. Wada. J. Comp. Neurol., 2022, 530, 1966-1991
• Transcriptional regulatory divergence underpinning species-specific learned vocalization in songbirds. H. Wang, A. Sawai, N. Toji, R. Sugioka , Y. Shibata, Y. Suzuki, Y. Ji, S. Hayase, S. Akama, J. Sese, K. Wada. PLoS. Biol., 2019, 17, e3000476