Time: 12:30-14:00, Thursday, April 2, 2026
Location: Room 1100, Lyu Dalong Building
Lecture Topics: Vocal communication in primates at four biological scales
Speaker: DanielY Takahashi
Daniel Yasumasa Takahashi is an Associate Professor at theBrain Institute of the Federal University of Rio Grande doNorte (UFRN), Brazil. He holds an MD and a BSc in AppliedMathematics from the University of Sao Paulo, where he alsocompleted his PhD in theoretical neuroscience. Hesubsequently held postdoctoral and research scholar positionsat Princeton University. His research spans computationalneuroscience, primate vocal communication, andmathematical statistics, with a particular focus on marmosetvocal learning and social behavior. His work has beenpublished in journals such as Science, Current Biology, andPNAS, and has been covered by outlets including the BBC,National Geographic, and Wired. He is a recipient of the PewLatin American Fellowship and the Serrapilheira Fellowship,and serves as a reviewing editor at eLife.
Report Summary:
Vocal communication is the adaptive coordination of the vocalapparatus, muscles, nervous system, and social interaction,operating across real-time, developmental, and evolutionarytimescales. Understanding vocal behavior requires studying itat multiple temporal and biological scales. In this talk, I discussvocal communication in marmoset monkeys across four suchscales. First, I examine the marmoset brain during social vocalinteraction: a network of areas - the social vocal brainnetwork - emerges as a key dynamic structure duringcommunication. Second, I address vocal turn-taking dynamics,showing these can be modeled by a stochastic dynamicalsystem grounded in neuroanatomical and physiological data. Third, I discuss vocal development, showing that bothmarmoset infants and their parents modify their vocalizationsto form a learning system. Fourth, I examine how wildmarmoset vocalizations are shaped by the environment,showing that temperature affects call characteristics. Across allfour scales, I compare findings with what is known in humans.
