Michale Fee studies the neural mechanisms of sequence generation and learning. He is faculty in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an Investigator in the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. He received a B.E. with honors in Engineering Physics from the School of Engineering at the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Stanford University. After spending time at Bell Labs as a postdoctoral scholar and then as a permanent researcher, he joined the faculty of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT as Associate Professor of Neuroscience with tenure. At the same time, he was appointed as an investigator in the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. He has delivered lectures in numerous international conferences and research departments. He was promoted to Full Professor at MIT in 2010. His laboratory studies how songbirds generate and learn complex vocal sequences. For further information click here.
Talk Title: The neuronal control and learning of bird song
Abstract: The songbird has emerged as a powerful animal model in which to study the neural mechanisms underlying complex learned behaviors such as speech, language, music and athletic performance. Using newly developed technologies for monitoring and manipulating the activity of neurons in the brain of singing birds, circuits have been identified in the songbird brain that perform key functions of vocal production and learning. One of these circuits produces a highly precise representation of time in the brain – essentially a clock. Another circuit produces highly variable output that drives large fluctuations in the songs of juvenile birds, allowing them to creatively explore different vocal patterns during learning. And yet another circuit carries out an evaluation of song performance that enables gradual song improvement during learning. I will combine these observations to propose a simple mechanistic theory of how brain circuits learn and perform such sophisticated behaviors.