Daniela Vallentin is a neuroscientist and currently the Lise Meitner Reseach Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, heading the ‘Neural Circuits for Vocal Communication’ Group whose objective is to explore the neural circuits driving skilled motor learning and orchestrating the coordination of precise movements by working with songbirds. Due to the homology of brain structures in birds and mammals, studying the neural mechanisms of vocal learning and coordination in songbirds has the potential to reveal general principles of motor circuits in other animals, including humans.