行为研究表明，睡眠在学习中起一定作用。与此同时，鸟鸣也被确定为对学习进行研究的一个模型系统。
有人曾提出，睡眠的成年斑胸草雀的前脑前运动神经元活动能够反映白天的鸣叫片段。
现在，Sylvan Shank 和 Daniel Margoliash发现，睡眠在鸣鸟开始学习鸣叫时在确定其脑子的组织中扮演一个令人吃惊的角色。对未成年、还未学会其“歌声”的斑胸草雀来说，将其暴露于一只成年“辅导员”的歌声，在随后的睡眠过程中会使前运动神经元活动发生深远变化。夜晚活动的这些变化也反映在第二天由“辅导员”歌声诱导产生的鸣叫中。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Nature 458, 73-77 (5 March 2009) | doi:10.1038/nature07615
Sleep and sensorimotor integration during early vocal learning in a songbird
Sylvan S. Shank1 & Daniel Margoliash1,2
1 Department of Psychology,
2 Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
Behavioural studies widely implicate sleep in memory consolidation in the learning of a broad range of behaviours1, 2, 3, 4. During sleep, brain regions are reactivated5, 6, and specific patterns of neural activity are replayed7, 8, 9, 10, consistent with patterns observed in previous waking behaviour. Birdsong learning is a paradigmatic model system for skill learning11, 12, 13, 14. Song development in juvenile zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) is characterized by sleep-dependent circadian fluctuations in singing behaviour, with immediate post-sleep deterioration in song structure followed by recovery later in the day15. In sleeping adult birds, spontaneous bursting activity of forebrain premotor neurons in the robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA) carries information about daytime singing16. Here we show that, in juvenile zebra finches, playback during the day of an adult 'tutor' song induced profound and tutor-song-specific changes in bursting activity of RA neurons during the following night of sleep. The night-time neuronal changes preceded tutor-song-induced changes in singing, first observed the following day. Interruption of auditory feedback greatly reduced sleep bursting and prevented the tutor-song-specific neuronal remodelling. Thus, night-time neuronal activity is shaped by the interaction of the song model (sensory template) and auditory feedback, with changes in night-time activity preceding the onset of practice associated with vocal learning. We hypothesize that night-time bursting induces adaptive changes in premotor networks during sleep as part of vocal learning. By this hypothesis, adaptive changes driven by replay of sensory information at night and by evaluation of sensory feedback during the day interact to produce the complex circadian patterns seen early in vocal development.
