Sharon Begley The tragedy of autism is compounded by one fact that makes desperate parents wish they could turn back the hands of time: symptoms of the neurodevelopmental disorder typically show up when a child is 2 or 3 or even older, but by then it may be too late to prevent or reverse whatever glitches in brain development (still pretty much a mystery) underlie the disease. It is even on the late side for getting a child the behavioral interventions and special education that might mitigate some of the worst symptoms. If scientists at the M.I.N.D. Institute of the University of California, Davis, are right, however, there may be a reliable warning sign of autism much earlier: how a child plays with his or her toys at the tender age of 12 months. In particular, scientists led by Sally Ozonoff will report in the journal Autism (it’s the October issue, but not out yet; keep checking the web site), children who were later diagnosed with autism were more likely to spin, repetitively rotate, stare at and look out of the corners of their eyes at toys such as a rattle. There is a big research effort aimed at picking up the earliest harbingers of autism. One of the most promising discoveries came in 2003, when researchers led by neuroscientist Eric Courchesne of the University of California, San Diego, concluded that an odd pattern of skull growth might be a tip to autism, as they described in a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Children with autism, the scientists found, had a smaller head circumference at birth than healthy babies, and by 6 to 14 months their head circumference was in the 84th percentile, a huge increase and greater than the rate of increase in healthy children. © 2008 Newsweek, Inc.

Keyword: Autism; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 12212 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By GREG BISHOP Using the “contact us” tab on the organization’s Web site, an adult who lived in the area wanted to volunteer and work closely with children. The man knew what they were going through. His first seizure came on Christmas Eve during his freshman year of high school. The name at the bottom of the note nearly caused the employee reading it to fall from the chair. “Sincerely, Alan Faneca,” it said. The foundation has four offices, all in the heart of Steelers country, and here was Faneca, the Steelers’ perennial Pro Bowl guard, asking to volunteer, unprompted, for no reason other than that he had excelled with epilepsy, not in spite of it. “Very few people in the public eye who have epilepsy are willing to publicly talk about it,” said Judy Painter, the foundation’s executive director. “Alan gave so much hope to other people — people I don’t think he ever expected he would help.” Like Nick Cardello, 62, from Pittsburgh. Cardello grew up watching Mean Joe Greene and Lynn Swann and Terry Bradshaw, Steelers who were so good, he said, “you couldn’t not watch them.” Before Faneca went to the Jets this off-season, he was Cardello’s favorite player, a punishing left guard whose lack of glitz and glamour suited Steelers fans. Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Epilepsy
Link ID: 12211 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Amelia Hill, social affairs correspondent The most severe form of postnatal depression, which affects one in 500 new mothers and has been linked to suicide and infanticide, could be genetic, according to new research. It is also claimed, in a separate piece of research, that thousands more women could suffer postnatal depression than currently thought, with up to 17,250 late-onset cases a year in the UK going undetected. It was believed that the mood disorders affecting up to 75 per cent of new mothers were caused by the women's circumstances, personality and hormonal changes. But according to a study by Cardiff University, Birmingham University and Trinity College, Dublin, funded by medical charity the Wellcome Trust, the most severe form of postnatal depression - postpartum psychosis - has a genetic cause. The study is now working to isolate the gene, which will enable doctors to identify and treat high-risk women before they fall ill. New mothers can suffer from a spectrum of mood disorders. But while most women suffer 'baby blues' - a short period of tearfulness and tiredness after childbirth - postnatal depression is a more severe, long-lasting condition which affects 10 to 15 per cent of women and can prevent mothers bonding with their babies and cause suicidal thoughts. If left untreated, it can affect the short or long-term development of the baby. © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008

Keyword: Depression; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 12210 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Greg Miller When it comes to the neurobiology of memory, the hippocampus typically gets most of the credit. But although this brain region is crucial for recording new memories, like the name of someone you just met at a bar, people with a damaged hippocampus can still recall memories from days of old. Many neuroscientists believe this is because lasting memories get shifted to the cerebral cortex for permanent storage. Little is known about how this might happen, but a study in today's issue of Science provides some clues. The new study, by neuroscientists Kaori Takehara-Nishiuchi and Bruce McNaughton, then at the University of Arizona, Tucson, builds on a 2003 study on memory by Takehara-Nishiuchi. She and colleagues trained rats to blink when they heard a tone signaling a mild shock to the eyelid. When the researchers removed the hippocampus a day after the training, rats no longer remembered to blink when they heard the tone, but removing the hippocampus 4 weeks after the training session had no effect: The rats still blinked. Conversely, removing the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) a day after the training caused no memory lapses, but removing this region 4 weeks later made the rats forget all about the tone. The findings suggested that whereas the hippocampus is essential for short-term memory storage, the mPFC is critical for long-term storage. To investigate further, Takehara-Nishiuchi used hair-thin electrodes to record the activity of individual neurons in the mPFC of rats. This time the animals received more complex training. Over the course of 2 months, the rats heard the tone in two different contexts--in a square enclosure, where the tone always preceded a shock; or in a circular enclosure, where the tone and shock occurred randomly. By 2 weeks, rats had learned to blink when they heard the tone inside the square enclosure, where it reliably predicted a shock. But they ignored the tone inside the circular enclosure, where it did not. At the same time, about a quarter of the rat's mPFC neurons fired at higher rates when the tone sounded inside the square enclosure. This selective firing developed gradually over the first 2 weeks of training and persisted for the rest of the training period. The time course of this change in neural firing is similar to the time course of memory consolidation in the mPFC suggested by Takehara-Nishiuchi's 2003 study. © 2008 American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 12209 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Laura Sanders When it comes to sensory information detected by the body, pain is king, and itch is the court jester. But that insistent, tingly feeling—satisfied only by a scratch—is anything but funny to the millions of people who suffer from it chronically. Garden-variety itches related to histamine, like the kind caused by an angry rash of chicken pox or poison ivy, annoy everyone, but most can be subdued with drugs like Benadryl. But another type of itch is not mollified by these drugs, and therein lies the rub. Pathological itch — called the “itch that laughs at Benadryl” by neuroscientist and itch investigator Glenn Giesler Jr. of the University of Minnesota—is no joke. Not often pursued by scientists who look at sensation, itch research has lagged far behind investigations of other bodily cues. But in recent years, scientists have begun studying pathological itch seriously. This year researchers found nerve fibers—long, thin strands that carry information from the outer skin to the spinal cord and ultimately, the brain—built to detect this often-devastating type of itch. The new results show that it has its own pathway to the brain. “That’s the hottest topic in the field right now, the idea of different pathways for different itches,” says Earl Carstens, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Davis who studies the details of how these itches travel to the brain. The discovery of these fibers has also led some researchers to rethink the relationship between pain and itch. © Society for Science & the Public 2000 - 2008

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 12208 - Posted: 06.24.2010

French scientists say they have found a drug that tricks the body into burning off fat even when on a high-fat diet. The University of Louis Pasteur team found the drug protected mice against weight gain and insulin resistance. The drug SRT1720 - a chemical cousin of red wine extract resveratrol - targets the protein SIRT1, which is thought to combat ageing, Cell Metabolism reports. UK obesity experts said new drug treatments were needed but should be used alongside lifestyle changes. About a quarter of men and a third of women in the UK are overweight, according to government statistics. A change in diet and an increase in physical exercise can shift excess weight, but can be hard for many to maintain. With the removal of the anti-obesity pill rimonabant, also known as Acomplia, from the market amid safety concerns, fewer drug options exist. The French team from the University Louis Pasteur became interested in the SIRT1 protein after earlier studies showing resveratrol countered some effects of a high-calorie diet via SIRT1. But tests in mice suggested gallons of wine would be necessary for humans to stand a chance of getting the same benefits. The scientists turned their attention to creating a more potent drug that would specifically target SIRT1. They found that a low dose of SRT1720 partially protected mice from gaining weight on a high-fat diet after 10 weeks of treatment. The drug worked by shifting the metabolism to a fat-burning mode that normally takes over only when energy levels are low. At higher doses, the drug completely prevented weight gain. It also improved the rodents' blood sugar tolerance and insulin sensitivity, which are important for warding off diabetes. (C)BBC

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 12207 - Posted: 11.06.2008

David Robson They've been used to explain autism, empathy and why porn turns us on. Now some of the past findings that mirror neurons have been said to explain have been called into question by new research which suggests that these past investigations have not looked closely enough. Mirror neurons are brain cells that fire both when performing an action, and when the brain is observing that action being performed by someone else. Because of this, they have been a focus of keen interest among scientists looking for the neurological roots of things like empathy or imitation, and even morality. They have been directly observed in monkeys by measuring the firing of single neurons in the brain. In humans, mirror neurons can't be observed directly, so most studies have instead looked for them by taking fMRI scans of subjects performing and observing various activities, and then finding the regions of the brain that light up in both situations. Now Ilan Dinstein from New York University has cast doubt on these studies. He claims that they haven't examined these regions in fine enough detail: the neurons responsible for the increased activity when observing may be different from those that are active when performing, he says. Assigning them a role in autism and morality is premature, he concludes. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd

Keyword: Autism; Vision
Link ID: 12206 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Michael Shermer Over the past few hundred years, as scientists have grappled with understanding the source of the amazing processing power in our skulls, they have employed a number of metaphors based on familiar technologies of their given era. The brain has been thought of as a hydraulic machine (18th century), a mechanical calculator (19th century) and an electronic computer (20th century). Today, early in the 21st century, we have another metaphor driven by the capabilities of the current technology—this time colorful images from modern brain scans. Evolutionary psychologists, for example, have conceptualized the brain as a Swiss Army knife, with a collection of specialized modules that have evolved to solve specific problems in our evolutionary history, such as language for communication, facial recognition to separate friends from foes, cheating detection to prevent free riders, risk taking to raise the odds of individual or group success, and even God to explain the world and to find individual happiness in thoughts of an afterlife. Many neuroscientists have employed the module metaphor to describe specific regions of the brain “for X,” with X being whatever happens to be the task given to subjects while a machine scans their brains. Such tasks might include selecting brand logos they prefer (say, Coke or Pepsi) or political candidates they would vote for (conservatives or liberals). Scientists often use metaphors such as these as aids in understanding and explaining complex processes, but this practice necessarily oversimplifies the intricate and subtle realities of the physical world. As it turns out, the role of those blobs of color that we see in brain images is not as clear-cut as we have been led to believe. © 1996-2008 Scientific American Inc.

Keyword: Brain imaging
Link ID: 12205 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Jon Cohen Blonterstaping. Perplisteronk. Contramponist. People who have trouble remembering and repeating nonsense words like these have a common speech and language disorder called specific language impairment (SLI). Although SLI clearly runs in families, the genes responsible have been hard to pin down. Now, a group has found the first such gene, one that had been previously tied to a language disorder in autism. "This study is an important scratch on the surface of the genetics of language impairment," says Mabel Rice, a leading researcher of language disorders and genetics at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. Molecular neuroscientist Simon Fisher of the University of Oxford in the U.K. and his co-workers received international attention in 2001 when they discovered the first connection between a gene, FOXP2, and a speech and language disorder (ScienceNOW, 3 October 2001). They showed that a rare mutation in FOXP2 explains problems that beset several generations of a British family. Many researchers expected to find direct links between FOXP2 and more common language problems, but none surfaced. The reason is that FOXP2 is likely one of several genes that work in concert to support speech and language. Fisher's team knew that FOXP2 turned other genes on and off in the brain, so they investigated human neurons grown in the lab to see which parts of the genome were bound by FOXP2 protein. They quickly discovered that FOXP2 had a strong attraction for sections of DNA that controlled a gene called CNTNAP2, which codes for a protein that affects how neurons interact with each other during development, the team reports online today in the New England Journal of Medicine. © 2008 American Association for the Advancement of Science

Keyword: Language; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 12204 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Jordan Lite Autism is more common in rainy, coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest than in drier, inland parts of three states in the region, according to new research that suggests a possible link between the brain disorder and precipitation. Autism was twice as common in the damp counties west of the Cascade Mountains than in those east of the range, which get four times less rain, the study in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine shows. Kids in counties in California where rainfall was heavier also had higher rates of the disorder than children whose first three years of life were spent in drier weather. Autism causes impaired social interactions, delayed speech, and repetitive movements or behaviors. For unknown reasons, autism prevalence has surged over the past 30 years from an estimated one in 2,500 to one in 150 U.S. children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It's not clear why those rates are more elevated in damp areas — including states not in the study such as New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maine and Minnesota — but bad weather that keeps genetically vulnerable kids indoors could play a role, the study authors write. "Rates vary a lot from state to state — it doesn't seem to be random," says study-co author Michael Waldman, the Charles H. Dyson professor of management and a professor of economics at Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. © 1996-2008 Scientific American Inc.

Keyword: Autism
Link ID: 12203 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists say they may have found why people with schizophrenia have abnormal electrical waves in their brains. The Newcastle University team believes schizophrenics lack the vital brain receptor cells which control them. When the receptors in rats were switched off using a drug, the waves changed frequency. The researchers hope the work, detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, could point to new treatments. While the origins of schizophrenia are thought to be both environmental and genetic, the precise cause is unknown. Scientists have been looking more closely at some of the differences between the brain function of people with and without the condition. One difference found by earlier researchers is in the "gamma frequency oscillation", a pattern of electrical activity which is different in schizophrenia patients. The Newcastle researchers aimed to home in on the cause of this alteration. They used a drug called ketamine - which, as a recreational drug in humans, has been known to cause some of the symptoms of schizophrenia, including hallucinations. When applied to rat brain cells, they found the drug changed the frequency of its electrical activity by blocking the NMDA brain receptor. This could mean that people with schizophrenia either do not have enough of these receptors, or they are not working properly. (C)BBC

Keyword: Schizophrenia
Link ID: 12202 - Posted: 11.03.2008

By Adam Brimelow British scientists are embarking on a major new trial to assess the impact of the mood stabiliser lithium as a treatment for motor neurone disease. They say the research is necessary because positive findings from a small-scale Italian study were "too dramatic to ignore". But they are urging patients with the disease not to take the treatment in advance of their results. They warn that some side-effects of lithium are potentially dangerous. There are about 5,000 people in the UK living with motor neurone disease (MND). At the moment there is no effective cure or treatment. It is often rapidly progressive and always fatal, usually within two to five years. The disease can affect any adult at any age, although it is more commonly found in men, and is most likely to strike between the ages of 50 and 70. Lithium, a naturally occuring element, has long been used as a treatment for some forms of depression, such as bipolar disorder. But recent laboratory tests and animal trials have suggested that it may also have a protective effect with MND. The recent trial of 16 people in Italy reported encouraging results. But the MND Association said the study was small and poorly designed, and that its findings should be treated with caution. The association's president, Professor Sir Colin Blakemore, said: "If you read the publication optimistically it might be taken to mean that lithium literally cures this disease. "But it's very important, against the background of patient hopes and expectations, to stand back and ask whether the trial was large enough to make the claims that it did." (C)BBC

Keyword: ALS-Lou Gehrig's Disease ; Schizophrenia
Link ID: 12201 - Posted: 11.03.2008

Scientists at Cambridge University have made a major breakthrough researching brain tumours in children. For the first time a sequence of DNA present in around two-thirds of the most common tumour has been pinpointed. Pilocytic astrocytomas is diagnosed in 145 children from five to 19 every year, with nearly 40 cases untreatable. As little is known about the causes and genetics of brain tumours, it is hoped the findings could lead to better treatment. Professor Peter Collins, who led the research at Cambridge University, carried out genetic scans on 44 pilocytic astrocytoma and found a DNA sequence rearranged on a chromosome in the majority of the samples. The rearrangement creates a fusion gene, a hybrid created from two separate genes. It is the first time fusion activity has been associated with a brain tumour. Professor Collins said: "If we can diagnose exactly which type of brain tumour a child has as early as possible, the tumour is more likely to be treated successfully. We also hope the findings will mean it is possible to create therapies in the future that block the activity of the fusion gene and halt the growth of tumour cells." (C)BBC

Keyword: Glia
Link ID: 12200 - Posted: 11.01.2008

By BENEDICT CAREY Children and adolescents with disabling anxiety are most likely to recover when treated with a combination of talk therapy and an antidepressant medicine, according to the largest study to date of anxiety disorders in this age group. The government-financed study, which tracked nearly 500 patients, found that 8 in 10 children who received the combined therapy improved significantly, compared with less than 6 in 10 who had either the drug or the talk therapy (known as cognitive behavior therapy) on its own. The study, released online Thursday by The New England Journal of Medicine, clarifies the treatment picture for these young patients and should increase interest in combined therapy, experts said. Up to half of children and adolescents struggling with chronic anxiety do not seem to improve much in treatment, psychiatrists estimate. The researchers reported no increase in serious side effects from Zoloft, the antidepressant used in the study; the drug belongs to a class of medications that has been associated with a small risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in young patients. “It’s surprising that they found such a dramatic difference between combined treatment and the others,” said Dr. Sanjiv Kumra, director of the child and adolescent psychiatry program at the University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the research. “I think this should be reassuring for parents interested in finding good treatment for a child, and it should send a message to third-party payers.” Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Depression; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 12199 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Rossella Lorenzi Andean mummy hair has provided the first direct archaeological evidence of the consumption of hallucinogens in pre-Hispanic Andean populations, according to recent gas chromatography and mass spectrometry analysis. Indirect evidence for psychoactive drug use in South America's ancient populations abound, ranging from the discovery of drug equipment to the identification of hallucinogenic herb residuals in snuffing kits. However, there wasn't direct evidence that the ancient Andean people actually consumed mind-altering drugs. To find a direct link, chemical archaeologist Juan Pablo Ogalde and colleagues at the University of Tarapacá in Arica, Chile, analyzed 32 mummies from the Azapa Valley in northern Chile. Naturally mummified in the Acatama desert, the bodies belonged to the Tiwanaku, the ancestors of the Incas. The little known Tiwanaku established a civilization around 1200 B.C. that prevailed for almost three millennia, becoming one of history's longest-running empires. At the peak of their power, between 700 and 1100 A.D., they dominated the Andes, controlling large areas of Bolivia and Peru and parts of Argentina and Chile. Their burials often contain elaborately decorated snuffing trays and panpipes. © 2008 Microsoft

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 12198 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By JASCHA HOFFMAN The taste of a ripe tomato, the hook of a catchy song, the scent of a lover’s hair. What is it, exactly, that drives us to seek these things again and again? Neuroscientists who study perception are starting to discover the inner workings of the sensory mind. Starting on Monday at the New York Academy of Sciences, researchers and artists will team up to explore this new research in a series of talks called Science of the Five Senses. Their conversations will raise a question for the amateur hedonist: If we had a better understanding of the signals our bodies send to our brains, might we take more pleasure from them? The academy, which was founded in 1817 and now has a membership of more than 25,000 scientists, has recently reached out to the general public with its Science and the City lectures. “I wanted our live events to be at the intersection of science and culture,” said Adrienne Burke, an editor at the academy who conceived the new series. “That’s how we ended up with a singer and a food writer and an ex-magician. There is a deeper and more common connection between science and art than people tend to recognize.” For “Science of the Five Senses” Ms. Burke asked the scientists to invite artists to explain their work. “I’m used to booking scientists,” she said. “But I was amazed that all the artists said yes right away, even Rosanne Cash.” Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste); Vision
Link ID: 12197 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Rachel Zelkowitz Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin received a media lashing last week when word trickled out that her makeup artist snagged $22,800 in the first half of October. Pundits warned that such royal treatment might undermine her "down home" persona, but the makeover may have been a savvy move: New research adds more weight to the idea that voters value attractiveness more than competence in the faces of female politicians. The idea that candidates can win or lose votes on the basis of looks is not new. A previous study of U.S. Senate and House of Representative elections showed that candidates whose faces were judged "more competent" than their opponents' won the elections between 66% and 74% of the time (Science, 10 June 2005, p. 1623). But that study did not consider the impact of the candidate's gender on the relative importance of appearances, says Joan Chiao, a social neuroscientist at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. Chiao and her colleagues decided to investigate the role of gender. They compiled headshots of 46 women and 60 men who in 2006 ran for seats in the House of Representatives. The photos were grayscaled to minimize the effect of hair and clothing color, and highly recognizable candidates, such as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, were not included. A group of 73 test subjects, 38 of them women, viewed each face for 1 second and then noted how attractive, how competent, how dominant, or how approachable they found the candidates. Then, they viewed pairs of candidates from the 106-member set and had to indicate for which candidate they would vote in a hypothetical presidential election. © 2008 American Association for the Advancement of Science

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Emotions
Link ID: 12196 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Justin Mullins Fragile X syndrome, the most commonly inherited form of learning disability, is caused by mutation of a gene called FMRl on the X chromosome. This mutation prevents the brain from developing properly, leading to a form of mental retardation that has long been considered untreatable. That may be about to change, however. Julie Lauterborn and colleagues at the University of California, Irvine, say there may be a way to improve and even restore cognitive function in people suffering from fragile X as well as in people with other cognitive impairments. Their idea is based on the surprising discovery that a naturally occurring protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which is involved in nerve growth, may improve and even restore cognitive function in people whose mental abilities are impaired. The team says it has had promising results after injecting the protein into the brains of mice with fragile X syndrome. But no tests have been done in humans. In theory, the treatment needn't be limited to people with fragile X. The team says it could be used on individuals with other conditions that lead to learning disabilities, such as Down's syndrome and autism. However, they caution, much more work is needed before the full implications for humans can be understood. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Genes & Behavior; Intelligence
Link ID: 12195 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Sara Coelho Imagine the chaos if all traffic lights suddenly went red in a city. The same can apply to the brain, which needs a regulated flow of information to learn and make memories. New research published in the 31 October issue of Cell unveils how a neural stop signal goes askew in neurofibromatosis, one of the most common genetic causes of learning disabilities in humans. Neurofibromatosis typically produces fibrous lumps in nerve fibers, some of them visible on the skin. Common complications include high blood pressure, curvature of the spine, and specific learning problems, which are often related to spatial cognition. The condition is caused by mutations in a gene dubbed NF1, but the precise mechanism that lead to learning disabilities was not known until now. To address that puzzle, Alcino Silva, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, has been experimenting with mice that have mutations in their NF1 gene. The scientists confirmed that these mice have learning problems by testing them in a Morris water maze, a common lab test of animal learning and memory. Through studying the brains of these mice, the team uncovered that the faulty gene inhibits neurons, by releasing excess of the neurotransmitter GABA. Silva hypothesized that GABA's influence on synapses, physical connections between neurons, accounted for the learning disabilities caused by neurofibromatosis. "Memory is stored in the brain by subtle changes in synapses," he says. "Recalling a memory is reactivating a specific set of synapses." But in NF1-mutated mice, says Silva, too much GABA is produced, synapses are not allowed to change, and learning is inhibited. © 2008 American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 12194 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Susan Milius They’re teenagers, and they’re off somewhere listening to music. Fortunately for Chris Templeton, these are song sparrows, so he can put radio transmitters on them to figure out where they go. He’s guessing—remember he’s working with birds—that the young song sparrows have slipped off to go to school. Or to wherever it is in the shrubbery that they find tutors and learn to sing. Lab studies show that song sparrows, and probably half of known bird species, have to learn the species-specific songs they need for communicating in romance or war. Birdsong, Templeton says, “is a really important model system for understanding how humans learn language.” The avian descendants of dinosaurs evolved their communication independently from people. So the aspects of learning that turned out the same, as well as those that turned out different, intrigue scientists studying the brain and language. Birds learn songs, but there’s no evidence that other birds teach them—at least not in the human sense of doing something special, such as singing extra slowly in front of the chicks. Young birds do seem to listen to adults, though, and somehow end up learning a song from certain grown-ups while ignoring others. A human might be tempted to conclude that finding the grown-up models would be easy, that a baby bird picks up the songs of its parent. Don’t bet on it, Templeton says. © Society for Science & the Public 2000 - 2008

Keyword: Language; Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 12193 - Posted: 06.24.2010