A compact statistical model of the song syntax in Bengalese finch.

ABSTRACT: Songs of many songbird species consist of variable sequences of a finite number of syllables. A common approach for characterizing the syntax of these complex syllable sequences is to use transition probabilities between the syllables. This is equivalent to the Markov model, in which each syllable is associated with one state, and the transition probabilities between the states do not depend on the state transition history. Here we analyze the song syntax in Bengalese finch. We show that the Markov model fails to capture the statistical properties of the syllable sequences. Instead, a state transition model that accurately describes the statistics of the syllable sequences includes adaptation of the self-transition probabilities when states are revisited consecutively, and allows associati

SUBMITTER: Jin DZ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3060163 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature