TEACHING NEW BIRDS OLD TWEETS
Tracking the talents of these finches can inform scientists how traits are passed down in humans
SAN FRANCISCO >> A flurry of live tweets may hold the secret to understanding some of genetics’ most confounding mysteries.
Researchers at UCSF have found that if a songbird is exposed early to singing lessons from a foster father, they adopt the songs of that bird rather than their true parent. Tracking the talents of these finches can inform scientists how genetic traits are passed down in humans.
“You can override, and essentially eliminate the influence of genetics,” said Michael Brainard, a neuroscientist at UCSF’s Center for Integrative Neuroscience.
This new research shifts our understanding of the relationship between nature and nurture. While some studies involving twins who were separated at birth show a strong genetic basis for traits like sense of humor, reading comprehension, and even fashion sense infer that
these traits are fixed, Brainard’s research suggests they might be strongly influenced by a person’s environment after all.
For example, the vocal cues babies pick up from their parents shape the way they will speak. Bengalese finches learn their songs in a similar way. Even from within the egg, young male finches are absorbing the sounds their fathers make, picking up nuances in tempo and even dialect.
While “other species of bird sing the exact same pattern over and over again, Bengalese finches sing a variety of songs,” said Brainard. This makes them particularly useful as a model for study.
Initially intrigued by the amount of variation in the birds’ musical repertoire, David Mets, a postdoctoral researcher in Brainard’s lab, decided to conduct an experiment to find out what drives that diversity of songs.
Mets separated two groups of finches, removing the eggs from their nest shortly after they were laid so that, even from within the egg, neither group would hear their father’s unique song.
He then exposed the first group to a series of computer-generated bird sounds. Roughly 30 times a day, the computer squeaked out a tune to be learned and repeated by the birds.
“They live in a regular birdcage with the additional feature that has this activated perch that will play back songs for them,” said Brainard.
Mets placed the other group in the care of a foster father who taught the chicks his own melody.
Using an algorithm to measure the tempo, Mets was able to figure out where these birds got their beats.
“It’s sort of an easy thing to measure,” he said. Whereas measuring the types and amounts of syllables in a song can be difficult to compare between birds, the tempo is fixed.
The results were intriguing.
Synthetic birdsongs were less catchy to the chicks that heard them. When creating their own tunes, they developed songs that were more similar to the songs of their biological fathers — showing a clear bias towards their own genetic makeup over computer learned songs.
The birds that were given live instruction by another bird showed a preference towards the tune sung by their foster father than for the songs genetically imprinted on them by their biological father.
The chirps of these birds also provide insight on what’s happening inside the classroom. As the influence of technology in schools increases, Mets and Brainard agree that this work reaffirms the importance of personalized learning. Children who, at an early age, struggle with, say, reading comprehension will have a better chance of getting ahead if they’re tutored by a live instructor, who is invested in their success.
To Brainard, it’s simple: “better instruction drives stronger learning.”
Finally, this work bodes well for people who are genetically predisposed to certain psychiatric conditions, suggesting that with enough care and intervention, the side-effects can be dampened.
“This is really just the tip of the iceberg,” said Joseph Sakata, a neuroscientist at McGill University, who has previously worked with Dr. Brainard. Mets agrees. Next, the team hopes to map which parts of the finches’ brain contain the genetic imprints of these songs.
Revealing as these songs are, Mets, who listened to and analyzed 40,000 hours worth of birdsong, wouldn’t mind having another tune stuck in his head.
“Some birdsong is nice to listen to,” Mets said, ” but I’m not sure I want to listen to all that much more Bengalese.”
Contact Jennifer Leman at 408-920-5781.