HVC (avian brain region)

HVC (formerly, hyperstriatum ventrale, pars caudalis (HVc), and high vocal center) is a nucleus in the brain of the songbirds (order passeriformes) necessary for both the learning and the production of bird song.

It is located in the lateral caudal nidopallium and has projections to both the direct and the anterior forebrain pathways.

It is notable that both of the other orders of birds that learn song, the hummingbirds and parrots, also seem to have structures similar to HVC.

Following the Avian Brain Nomenclature Forum held at Duke University in July 2002 the nomenclature of the avian brain was officially revised in 2004,[3][4] these names were officially dropped in order to correct the historical inaccuracies.

[1] It receives recurrent motor activity through the thalamic nucleus Uvaformis (Uva) and input from the auditory system through projections from the caudalateral mesopallium (CMM) and through the nucleus interfacialis (NIf).