University of Arizona Neuroscientists Studying The Brains of Songbirds Have Found That Aging Alters The Gene Expressions that control the Birds’ Song. The Finding Bet Lead to EarLier Diagnoses and Better Treatments for Human Neurodegenerastic Disorders Such as Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease, Which Are Known to Hinder Vocal Prodooks Their early stages.

The study, Published in the journey Neurobiology of agingFound that networks of interaction genes in a region of the bird’s brain involved with singing dramatically changes as the bird ages. At the center of these networks are “hub genes” that drive the activity of many other genes. A Better undersrstanding of the hub genes could be crucial to develop treates for age-Related disorders.

“If you could make a drug that would influence a particular hub gene, you might potentially influence hundreds of other genes around it and see a macroscopic effect,” SAID LEAD StUDY AUTHOR CHARLES Higgins, An Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Member of the University’s Bio5 Institute. “That count be a drug that count slow alzheimer’s disease, for example.”

The Study is the latest to investigate the link between vocal production and aging. Senior Study Author Julie E. Miller, also an associate professor in the department of neuroscience, has studied those those those who connections for years using zebra finch songs.

“There is some hopeful news in that bird is still able to produge the song behavior, even with the gnetic changes, and it sugges that there are also somes ways that the bird is the bird is adapting to wasteing to waste Said Miller, who has a shared appointment in the department of speech, language and hearing Sciences and is a Member of the Bio5 Institute. “This might offer resilience strategies for humans.”

“Zebra Finches, Native to Australia, Have a Strikingly Similar-Looking Brain to Humans,” Particularly the area as the basal ganglia, which is used for motor function, incharge The finches also develop their birdsong by mimicking

Perhaps most importantly for researchrs, birdsong is also a measurable marker of changes in the brain, allowing scientists to see how the song’s pitch, Volume and Intensity Change ALGEGE ALONG ALONG ALONG AL.

For their latest paper, Miller and Her Colleagues Recorded The Songs of 36 Birds, Ranging Widely in Age, and Study how the genes associateed with hanging began to behave differently as the Birds.

They found that gene networks start as vast arrays of activity in younger birds before thinning out into just a less a less single genes as the birds get older.

Miller said She Hopes Further Research Can Shed More Light on the Changes to the Hub Genes as the Finches Age.

“Really, the logical goal is to try to undertand where these hub genes are important, what do they do to the song, and if we manipulate their expression, can we prevent or sloaw down the etc. Affects Our Vocal Communication? ” She said.

Other Researchers on the Paper Included Sri Harsha Vishwanath, a Graduate Research Associate in the School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences; Fiona McCarthy, A Professor of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences; Michelle Gordon, A Former Undergraduate Student in Miller’s Lab; And Beate Peter, An Associate Professor at Arizona State University.