Data from: Vocal state change through laryngeal development

Across vertebrates, progressive changes in vocal behavior during postnatal
development are typically attributed solely to developing neural circuits.
How the changing body influences vocal development remains unknown. Here
we show that state changes in the contact vocalizations of infant marmoset
monkeys, which transition from noisy, low frequency cries to tonal, higher
pitched vocalizations in adults, are caused partially by laryngeal
development. Combining analyses of natural vocalizations, motorized
excised larynx experiments, tensile material tests and high-speed imaging,
we show that vocal state transition occurs via a sound source switch from
vocal folds to apical vocal membranes, producing louder vocalizations with
higher efficiency. We show with an empirically-based model of descending
motor control how neural circuits could interact with changing laryngeal
dynamics, leading to adaptive vocal development. Our results emphasize the
importance of embodied approaches to vocal development, where exploiting
biomechanical consequences of changing material properties can simplify
motor control, reducing the computational load on the developing brain.

在脊椎动物中，出生后发育过程中发声行为的渐进变化通常仅归因于神经回路的发育。身体变化如何影响发声发育仍不清楚。本文表明，幼年狨猴的接触性发声状态变化（从嘈杂的低频叫声转变为成年后的音调性、高音调发声）部分由喉部发育引起。结合自然发声分析、电动离体喉实验、拉伸材料测试和高速成像，我们发现发声状态转变是通过声源从声带切换到顶端发声膜（apical vocal membranes）实现的，产生更响亮且效率更高的发声。我们通过基于经验的下行运动控制模型，展示了神经回路如何与变化的喉部动力学相互作用，从而实现适应性发声发育。我们的结果强调了具身方法（embodied approaches）在发声发育中的重要性——利用材料特性变化的生物力学结果可以简化运动控制，减轻发育中大脑的计算负荷。