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©1999 CISAB   Roderick A. Suthers
Professor, School of Medicine
Professor, Department of Psychology
Ph.D. Harvard University 1965


R E S E A R C H   I N T E R E S T S
Dr. Suthers is interested in the neural basis of behavior, particuarly the neuroethology of acoustic communication. His research is primarily focused on the physiology of song production in songbirds and of vocalizations by parrots. These two groups of birds have very different vocal organs and vocal abilities yet they are almost unique among animals in having evolved a complex system of vocal communication in which learning plays an important role. By understanding how these vocalization are produced and their role in communication, his lab hopes to gain insight into the significance of song diversity, its cost and benefit to the bird, and the motor constraints that may limit the acoustic or temporal complexity of song. Areas of current research in his laboratory include: the motor correlates of vocal learning, including the role of practice during critical developmental periods; the role of non-auditory sensory feedback in song production; and the significance of neural lateralization in the control of behavior. A long-term goal of his research on avian vocal communication is to bridge the gap between its underlying neural mechanisms and its behavioral ecology.
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R E P R E S E N T A T I V E   P U B L I C A T I O N S
Suthers, R.A. 1990. Contributions to birdsong from the left and right sides of the intact syrinx. Nature 347:473-477.

Suthers, R.A., F.Goller, & R.S. Hartley. 1994. Motor dynamics of song production by mimic thrushes. Journal of Neurobiology 25:917-936.

Allen, S.E. & R.A. Suthers. 1994. Lateralization and moto sterotypy of song production in the brown-headed cowbird. Journal of Neurobiology 25:1154-1166.

Goller, F. & R.A. Suthers. 1995. Implications for lateralization of bird song from unilateral gating of bilateral motor patterns. Nature 373:63-66

Suthers, R.A., F. Goller, & R.S. Hartley. 1996. Motor stereotypy and diversity in songs of mimic thrushes. Journal of Neurobiology 30:231-245.

Suthers, R.A. 1997. Peripheral control and lateralization of birdsong. Journal of Neurobiology 33:632-652.  (Abstract)

Suthers, R.A. & F. Goller. 1997. Motor correlates of vocal diversity in songbirds. In V. Nolan Jr., E. Ketterson, & C.F. Thompson (Eds.), Current Ornithology, Plenum Press, New York, vol. 14, pp. 235-288.


C U R R I C U L U M   V I T A

 C O N T A C T
Medical Sciences Program
Jordan Hall
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN 47405 USA
FAX:   812.855.6705
Office:   812.855.8353
e-mail:   suthers@indiana.edu


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