Also by
William E Wood, PhD
Other projects & work
Selected Publications
View all on Google Scholar →Lesions to NCM impair individual vocal recognition in the zebra finch
Yu K*, Wood WE*, Johnston LG, Theunissen FE · Journal of Neuroscience · 2023
Identifies a specific auditory brain region (NCM) required for songbirds to recognize individual flockmates by voice.
Sparse ensemble neural code for a complete vocal repertoire
Robotka H, Thomas L, Yu K, Wood W, Elie JE, Gahr M, Theunissen FE · Cell Reports · 2023
Small populations of auditory neurons can encode an entire vocal repertoire — a striking case of sparse, efficient neural coding.
High-capacity auditory memory for vocal communication in a social songbird
Yu K*, Wood WE*, Theunissen FE · Science Advances · 2020
Zebra finches learn and remember dozens of unique vocal identities — a songbird analogue of human face memory, but for voices.
A canonical neural mechanism for behavioral variability
Darshan R, Wood WE, Peters S, Leblois A, Hansel D · Nature Communications · 2017
Proposes a general circuit mechanism that produces the controlled motor variability animals need to learn complex skills.
Good neighbour, bad neighbour: Song sparrows retaliate against aggressive rivals
Akcay C, Wood WE, Templeton C, Campbell L, Beecher M · Animal Behaviour · 2009 · Covered by BBC
Song sparrows track which neighbors have previously been aggressive and selectively retaliate against them.
Song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) song varies with urban noise
Wood WE, Yezerinac SM · The Auk · 2006 · Covered by The Washington Post
One of the first demonstrations that urban birds shift the structure of their songs to be heard over city noise.
Mump Bioacoustic Software
In developmentA complete suite of audio processing and clustering tools for bioacoustic analysis — built to empower the next generation of ethologists.
In Progress
Restaurant Scheduler
AI-powered staff scheduling with overtime tracking
Life Risk Estimator
Evidence-based mortality risk calculator using CDC and AHA data
BloomingSongs
Mapping when birds sing across America