Urban traffic noise disrupts auditory discrimination performance in Zebra Finches

AOS Research Grant Seminar

Presenter: Nicole St. Jacques, Ph.D. candidate, City University of New York; AOS 2025 Student Research Grant winner

Anthropogenic urban and traffic noise has been shown to disrupt vocal learning and impact associated neural substrates in juvenile songbirds. However, less is known about how traffic noise influences auditory song perception and physiological processes in adults. In this talk, I will share current results from an ongoing operant discrimination task using adult male and female Zebra Finches, suggesting that New York City traffic noise disrupts song discrimination abilities. Results from a fecal corticosterone analysis revealed that traffic-exposed birds did not have more corticosterone than controls, suggesting traffic noise may not increase stress, but disrupt sensory processing, attention, and motivation.