Our Research Program focuses on understanding the role of neural mechanisms which contribute to on-going vocal learning and production in the male zebra finch (photo below).  Only the males sing in this species and are identified by their bright red-orange cheek patch. Although the females of this species do not sing, they have finely tuned auditory processes to evaluate the male courtship song and select their mate. We pursue several lines of research using the zebra finch songbird model to understand the brain mechanisms involved in human vocal production. Areas of emphasis in our research studies include aging, neurodegenerative diseases, and social-context dependent behaviors that are studied using a variety of pharmacological, genetic, electrophysiological and behavioral tools.