Department of Psychology
Department of Psychology
C Daniel Meliza

C. Daniel Meliza

Associate Professor of Psychology
cdm8j@virginia.edu
Research Areas

Office Hours: Tuesday 3:30-5 (by zoom: https://virginia.zoom.us/j/8531096155); Wednesday: 1:30-3 (Gilmer 481)
Lab Website: https://meliza.org/

Biography

My lab studies neural mechanisms of pattern learning and recognition in the auditory system of songbirds. Songbirds can learn to recognize hundreds of songs from different individuals under challenging and variable acoustic conditions. We study this behavior using a neuroethological approach that combines observational studies, operant conditioning, acute and chronic electrophysiology, and dynamical systems models.

For more information, visit the lab website at https://meliza.org/

Recent Publications

  • C. Fehrman, T.D. Robbins, C.D. Meliza (2021). Nonlinear effects of intrinsic dynamics on temporal encoding in a model of avian auditory cortex. PLoS Computational Biology, doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008768

  • A.N. Chen and C.D. Meliza (2020). Experience- and sex-dependent intrinsic plasticity in the zebra finch auditory cortex during song memorization. Journal of Neuroscience, doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2137-19.2019

  • M.C. Bjoring and C.D. Meliza (2019). A low-threshold potassium current enhances sparseness and reliability in a model of avian auditory cortex. PLoS Computational Biology, doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006723

  • A.N. Chen and C.D. Meliza (2018). Phasic and tonic cell types in the zebra finch auditory caudal mesopallium. Journal of Neurophysiology, doi:10.1152/jn.00694.2017

  • S. C. Keen, C. D. Meliza, D. R. Rubenstein (2013). Flight calls signal group membership and individual identity but not kinship in a cooperatively breeding bird. Behavioral Ecology, doi:10.1093/beheco/art062

  • C. D. Meliza and D. Margoliash (2012). Emergence of selectivity and tolerance in the avian auditory cortex. Journal of Neuroscience, doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0845-12.2012

  • M. Kostuk, B. A. Toth, C. D. Meliza, D. Margoliash, H. D. I. Abarbanel (2011). Dynamical estimation of neuron and network properties II: Path integral Monte Carlo methods. Biological Cybernetics, doi:10.1007/s00422-012-0487-5

  • C. D. Meliza (2011). Effects of auditory recognition learning on the perception of vocal features in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, doi:10.1121/1.3641420

  • C. D. Meliza, Z. Chi, D. Margoliash (2010). Representations of conspecific song by starling secondary forebrain auditory neurons: towards a hierarchical framework. Journal of Neurophysiology, doi:10.1152/jn.00464.2009

  • C. D. Meliza and Y. Dan (2006). Receptive-field modification in rat visual cortex induced by paired visual stimulation and single cell spiking. Neuron, doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2005.12.009