Project Details:
Seasonal regulation of adult neurogenesis in birds
Bird brains add new neurons to the entire forebrain throughout the life of the individual. In two brain regions (the song system nucleus HVC and the Hippocampus), this addition has been shown to be seasonally regulated. Seasonally singing songbirds have a net addition of more neurons to the song system leading up to and during the breeding season. Food-hoarding birds which hide most of their food in the autumn have a net addition of new neurons to the hippocampus during the hoarding season. In this project, we are investigating the mechanisms underlying the addition of new neurons in these two brain areas in two songbird species: the willow tit (a food-hoarding bird) and the great tit (a closely-related non-hoarding bird). We have collected brains from the field in Northern Finland (Oulu), and are quantifying total neuron numbers, as well as numbers of new neurons and dying neurons in this tissue. We also collected behavioural data in the field, so we can correlate the neuro-anatomical changes to the concurrent behavioural changes.
Affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience
Research Staff:
- Dr. Henrik Lange
- Dr. Tom Smulders
- Ms. Lauren Walker
