Dynamic vocal learning in adult marmoset monkeys

Abstract

While vocal learning is vital to language acquisition in children, adults continue to adjust their speech while adapting to different social environments in the form of social vocal accommodation (SVA). Even though adult and infant vocal learning seemingly differ in their properties, whether the mechanisms underlying them differ remains unknown. The complex structure of language creates a challenge in quantifying vocal changes during SVA. Consequently, animals with simpler vocal communication systems are powerful tools for understanding the mechanisms underlying SVA. Here, we tracked acoustic changes in the vocalizations of adult common marmoset pairs, a highly vocal primate species known to show SVA, for up to 85 days after pairing with a new partner. We identified four properties of SVA in marmosets: (1) bidirectional learning, (2) exponential decrease in vocal distance with time, (3) sensitivity to initial vocal distance, and (4) dyadic acoustic feature synchrony. We developed a mathematical model that shows all four properties. The model suggests that marmosets continuously update the memory of their partners vocalizations and modify their own vocalizations to match them, a dynamic form of vocal learning. The model provides crucial insights into the mechanisms underlying SVA in adult animals and how they might differ from infant vocal learning.