The Central Nucleus of the Lateral Nidopallium (NLc)

The central nucleus of the lateral nidopallium (formerly designated neostriatum) (NLc) is the neostriatal component of the parrot vocal control system. In this sense it is comparable to the high vocal center of songbirds (see Striedter, 1994), however NLc does not project to the basal ganglia. Recently, Lavenex (2000) showed that NLc is necessary for amplitude modulation of the sounds produced by budgerigars and that lesions of NLc interfered with imitation of human vowel sounds by budgerigars.

References:

Brauth, S. E., Liang, W. and Roberts, T. F. (2001) Projections of the oval nucleus of the hyperstriatum ventrale in the budgerigar: Relationships with the auditory system. J. Comp. Neur., 432:481-511.

Durand, S. E., Heaton, J. T., Amateau, S. and Brauth, S. E. (1997) Vocal control pathways through the anterior forebrain of a parrot (Melopsittacus undulatus). J. Comp. Neur. 377:179-206.

Lavenex, P. B. (2000) Lesions in the budgerigar vocal control nucleus NLc affect production but not memory of English words and natural vocalizations. J. Comp. Neurol., 421:437-460.

Striedter, G. (1994) The vocal control pathways in budgerigars differ from those in songbirds. J. Comp. Neur. 343:35-56.