Susanne Seltmann
Curriculum Vitae
Jan 2009 Diplom in Biology, Technische Universität München, Germany
Research Interests & Goals
Developing song in songbirds has striking parallels to speech acquisition in humans. Both songbirds and humans must hear the sounds of adult tutors and their own vocal production during a distinct learning period. A specific brain area is responsible for language / song learning and memory consolidation, the speech centre in humans and its equivalent in birds, the so called song system. To get a closer view on those neural mechanisms we have chosen the Zebra finch as a role model for perceptual and sensorimotor learning in birds.
Melatonin is well known for its role in entrainment of circadian rhythms but Melatonin receptors are also expressed in the song system, a structure without known clock function. Thus Melatonin seems to have also a direct function in the neural control of the song motor pattern.
For my dissertation I am mainly interested in the influence of Melatonin on the structure of birdsong and its neuronal correlates and how it affects song learning and memory consolidation.
Electrophysiological and molecular methods should give information about these questions.
Publications
Awards & Scholarships
2010/11 IMPRS for Organismal Biology Scholarship
Hometown
Munich, Germany
Address
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Behavioral Neurobiology
Fon: +49 8157 932-392
E-mail: sseltmann(at)orn.mpg.de
