Exposure to a novel stimulus environment alters patterns of lateralization in avian auditory cortex

Highlights • Songbirds communicate using complex vocalizations learned by imitation, as humans do. • Songs but not simple sounds elicit different responses in the two brain hemispheres. • This lateralization is reversed by hearing a novel acoustic environment for 2–4 days. • Auditory responses change in both hemispheres to represent new sound statistics. • The brain adapts dynamically to novel patterns, e.g. when exposed to a new language.