Dr. Susanne Hoffmann

Keywords:
neuroethology, vocal communication, in-vivo electrophysiology, bioacoustics, birds, field research

Brief research description:
Conventionally, scientific experiments, which involve the monitoring of neuronal signals, are exclusively performed on laboratory animals under controlled laboratory conditions. In order to achieve an ecologically generalizable understanding of how the brain controls behavior, we study brain function in animals that behave freely in their natural, social environment. The focus of our current work lies on the neural mechanisms of natural vocal communication behavior, and we use songbirds as model systems. We investigate, for instance, how the vocal control system in the brain of songbirds enables these animals to produce vocal sounds in rapid alternation with a partner during duet singing. In a natural breeding context, we study how sounds produced by bird embryos while still inside the egg are processed by the auditory system of their parents. Another project aims at describing how natural alarm calling behavior is controlled and processed by the avian brain. For our research, we employ a diverse set of scientific techniques, including in-vivo neurophysiology, bioacoustics, behavioral observation, histology and microscopy.

Selected publications:

1) Hoffmann, S.; Trost, L.; Voigt, C.; Leitner, S.; Lemazina, A.; Sagunsky, H.; Abels, M.; Kollmansperger, S.; Ter Maat, A.; Gahr, M.: Duets recorded in the wild reveal that interindividually coordinated motor control enables cooperative behavior. Nature Communications 10, 2577 (2019)

2) Hoffmann, S.; Beetz, M. J.; Stöckl, A.; Mesce, K. A.: Naturalistic neuroscience - Towards a full cycle from lab to field. Frontiers in Neural Circuits 17, 1251771 (2023)

3) Arnold, F.; Staniszewski, M. S.; Pelzl, L.; Ramenda, C.; Gahr, M.; Hoffmann, S.: Vision and vocal communication guide three-dimensional spatial coordination of zebra finches during wind-tunnel flights. Nature Ecology & Evolution 6, pp. 1221 - 1230 (2022)

4) Lemazina, A.; Trost, L.; Gahr, M.; Hoffmann, S.: The multifaceted vocal duets of white-browed sparrow weavers are based on complex duetting rules. Journal of Avian Biology 52 (9), e02703 (2021)

5) Hoffmann, S.; Vega-Zuniga, T.; Greiter, W.; Krabichler, Q.; Bley, A.; Matthes, M.; Zimmer, C.; Firzlaff, U.; Luksch, H.: Congruent representation of visual and acoustic space in the superior colliculus of the echolocating bat Phyllostomus discolor. European Journal of Neuroscience 44 (9), pp. 2685 - 2697 (2016)