Songbird Vocal Communication System

This is a semi 3-dimensional view of the songbird brain and its vocal communication system. Blue are structures of the auditory pathway. Red are structures of the anterior forebrain vocal pathway. Yellow are structures of the posterior vocal pathway.

Abbreviations: Area X - area X of the paleostriatum, Av - nucleus avalanche, CMHV - caudomedial hyperstriatum ventrale, DLM - medial nucleus of the dorsolateral thalamus, DM - dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus, HVC - high vocal center, HVo-like - oval-like nucleus of the hyperstriatum ventrale, L2 – primary telencephalic auditory area , LL -lateral lemniscus, MAN - magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum, MLd - dorsal part of the lateral mesencephalic nucleus, NCM - caudomedial neostriatum, NIf - nucleus interfacialis, nXIIts – tracheosyringeal subdivision of the hypoglossal nucleus, Ov - nucleus ovoidalis of the thalamus, PC - caudal paleostriatum, RA - robust nucleus of the archistriatum