PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Tweet and re-tweet: songbird stuttering allows researchers to pinpoint causes in the brain

Misfiring neurons in specific regions of the bird brain leads to stuttering patterns, and provides a model to explore treatments to restore normal speech

2021-05-10
(Press-News.org) Speech problems such as stammering or stuttering plague millions of people worldwide, including 3 million Americans. President Biden himself struggled with stuttering as a child and has largely overcome it with speech therapy. The cause of stuttering has long been a mystery, but researchers at Tufts University are beginning to unlock its causes and a strategy to develop potential treatments using a very curious model system - songbirds. In a study published today in Current Biology, the researchers were able to observe that a simple, reversible pharmacological treatment in zebra finches can stimulate rapid firing in a part of the brain that leads to large variations in their song patterns, including the stuttering of short sequences of notes or syllables.

The part of the brain that appears to be linked to birdsong "re-tweeting" of syllables is the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium, or LMAN. When the LMAN is stimulated to fire its neurons in short rapid bursts, the birds start to "improvise" by varying the sequence of notes and tweeting a series of repetitions that share many similarities to stuttering in humans, including partial syllable repeats and abnormal pauses mid-sequence, followed by continuation to the next normal syllable after the repetition. Stuttering in syllable transitions can increase from 0.1% before treatment to as much as 13.6%. Typical frequency of stuttering in humans can occur in 4 - 8% of syllables.

The treatment used to induce LMAN to fire its neurons was a simple infusion of a drug, bicuculline methiodide (BMI), that acts on specific neuron receptors and ion channels. The changes in song patterns were observed to accumulate gradually over several days during infusion and can persist for weeks after treatment is stopped. Once the new song patterns are learned in the parts of their brain that control vocal motor activity, LMAN firing is no longer needed to drive them.

"We're excited about the work because it suggests that burst firing may be especially important for driving long-lasting changes in vocal sequences and may be one mechanism that can be targeted to restore normal vocal sequences," said Mimi Kao, assistant professor of biology at Tufts University and corresponding author of the study.

Earlier studies have evoked changes in song patterns not with a drug but by interrupting the auditory feedback by playing back white noise or a different song sequence. Rather than hearing just their own voice, the birds hear something different, and the mismatch causes them to alter the pitch, timing and sequence of syllables in their songs. It's like trying to sing Sinatra's "My Way" while someone is playing heavy metal in the background.

The pharmaceutical disruption of LMAN activity may be causing a similar alteration in auditory feedback to create variations and stuttering in song patterns. In both cases, removal of the disruption allows normal song patterns to return after a few days to weeks. And therein lies the hope for the treatment of speech dysfunction. If sustained aberrant firing patterns in LMAN or other regions of the brain can cause speech dysfunction, correction of those firing patterns could allow the brain to recover normal speech.

"Although the regions of the brain examined in this study have been known to be involved in speech dysfunctions, very little is known about the specific neuronal firing patterns involved," said Sanne Moorman, former postdoctoral fellow at Tufts University, currently at Utrecht University and first author of the study. "This research offers a way to manipulate the firing patterns, so we can learn how they contribute to dysfunctional speech and explore pharmaceutical or other treatments to recover normal function."

The implications of the research could reach further than speech pathology. Vocal performance is often affected in other basal ganglia movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease, and may serve as a marker to quantify the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions in that region of the brain, according to the study authors.

INFORMATION:



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Do purines influence cancer development?

Do purines influence cancer development?
2021-05-10
Numerous disease development processes are linked to epigenetic modulation. One protein involved in the process of modulation and identified as an important cancer marker is BRD4. A recent study by the research group of Giulio Superti-Furga, Principal Investigator and Scientific Director at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, now shows that the supply of purines as well as the purine synthesis of a cell can influence BRD4 activity and thus play a role in the carcinogenesis process. The findings were published in Nature Metabolism. Chromatin is a ...

Study finds pretty plants hog research and conservation limelight

Study finds pretty plants hog research and conservation limelight
2021-05-10
New Curtin University research has found a bias among scientists toward colourful and visually striking plants, means they are more likely to be chosen for scientific study and benefit from subsequent conservation efforts, regardless of their ecological importance. Co-author John Curtin Distinguished Professor Kingsley Dixon from Curtin's School of Molecular and Life Sciences was part of an international team that looked for evidence of an aesthetic bias among scientists by analysing 113 plant species found in global biodiversity hotspot the Southwestern Alps and mentioned in 280 research papers published between 1975 and 2020. Professor Dixon said the study tested whether there was a relationship between research focus on plant species and characteristics ...

Cancer cells hijack the 3D structure of DNA

2021-05-10
In cancer, a lot of biology goes awry: Genes mutate, molecular processes change dramatically, and cells proliferate uncontrollably to form entirely new tissues that we call tumors. Multiple things go wrong at different levels, and this complexity is partly what makes cancer so difficult to research and treat. So it stands to reason that cancer researchers focus their attention where all cancers begin: the genome. If we can understand what happens at the level of DNA, then we can perhaps one day not just treat but even prevent cancers altogether. This drive has led a ...

Light meets superconducting circuits

Light meets superconducting circuits
2021-05-10
In the last few years, several technology companies including Google, Microsoft, and IBM, have massively invested in quantum computing systems based on microwave superconducting circuit platforms in an effort to scale them up from small research-oriented systems to commercialized computing platforms. But fulfilling the potential of quantum computers requires a significant increase in the number of qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers, which can store and manipulate quantum information. But quantum signals can be contaminated by thermal noise generated by the movement of electrons. To prevent this, superconducting quantum systems must operate at ultra-low temperatures - less ...

Esophageal cancers resurrect ancient retroviruses hidden in our genome

2021-05-10
NEW YORK, NY (May 10, 2021)--Scientists have discovered that many esophageal cancers turn on ancient viral DNA that was embedded in our genome hundreds of millions of years ago. "It was surprising," says Adam Bass, MD, the Herbert and Florence Irving Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, who led the study published May 10 in Nature Genetics.  "We weren't specifically searching for the viral elements, but the finding opens up a huge new array of potential cancer targets that I think will be extremely exciting as ways to enhance immunotherapy." Fossil ...

How Legionella makes itself at home

How Legionella makes itself at home
2021-05-10
DALLAS - May 10, 2021 - Scientists at UT Southwestern have discovered a key protein that helps the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease to set up house in the cells of humans and other hosts. The findings, published in Science, could offer insights into how other bacteria are able to survive inside cells, knowledge that could lead to new treatments for a wide variety of infections. "Many infectious bacteria, from listeria to chlamydia to salmonella, use systems that allow them to dwell within their host's cells," says study leader Vincent Tagliabracci, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular biology at UTSW and member of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Better understanding the tools they use to make this happen is teaching us some interesting biochemistry and ...

Older adults having surgery less frequently -- but it depends on the surgery and hospital

2021-05-10
Many have assumed that the rates of major abdominal surgeries in adults over 65 is increasing over time as the U.S. population ages and as new technology renders surgical procedures safer for older adults. Contrary to this popular belief, a new study from the University of Chicago Medicine found the frequency of abdominal surgery in older adults is decreasing, especially among adults over the age of 85. The study, which examined data from 2002 to 2014, was published May 10 in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society. While the research was not able to determine the exact reasons for this shift, the results indicate that improvements ...

Long-term stress in dogs linked to the owner-dog relationship

Long-term stress in dogs linked to the owner-dog relationship
2021-05-10
The relationship a dog has with its owner is related to its stress level. This is the conclusion of a newly published study from Linköping University, Sweden. The results, published in the journal Scientific Reports, also suggest that the link between stress and the owner's personality traits differs between dog breeds. Researchers at Linköping University have investigated whether the stress levels of dogs are affected by the people they live with. Stress levels for the past several months can be determined in both dogs and humans by measuring the levels of stress hormone stored in hairs as they grow. The researchers have collected hair from both dogs and owners, and measured levels of cortisol, the most important stress hormone, in them. They were interested in whether there ...

Peers who boost marginalized voices help others, and themselves, study shows

2021-05-10
For organizations to reach their potential, they must leverage the expertise of their employees. However, research demonstrates that lower-status employees may not be heard because their "voices" are more likely to be ignored. New research from the University of Notre Dame is the first to show that peers can help boost marginalized voices, and at the same time benefit their own status, all while helping their organization realize the potential of its employees' diverse perspectives. Publicly endorsing -- or amplifying -- another person's contribution, while giving attribution to that person, enhances the status of both parties, according to "Amplifying Voice in Organizations," ...

Mapping citrus microbiomes: The first step to finding plant-microbiome treasures

Mapping citrus microbiomes: The first step to finding plant-microbiome treasures
2021-05-10
Due to their complexity and microscopic scale, plant-microbe interactions can be quite elusive. Each researcher focuses on a piece of the interaction, and it is hard to find all the pieces let alone assemble them into a comprehensive map to find the hidden treasures within the plant microbiome. This is the purpose of review, to take all the pieces from all the different sources and put them together into something comprehensive that can guide researchers to hidden clues and new associations that unlock the secrets of a system. Like any good treasure map, there are still gaps in the knowledge and the searcher must be clever enough to fill in those gaps to find the "X". Without a map, there is only aimless wandering, but with a map, there is hope of finding the hidden ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Signs identified that precede sudden arrhythmic death syndrome in young people

Discovery of bacteria's defence against viruses becomes a piece of the puzzle against resistance

Pre-eclampsia is associated with earlier onset and higher incidence of cardiovascular risk factors

Warwick astronomers discover doomed pair of spiralling stars on our cosmic doorstep

Soil conditions significantly increase rainfall in world’s megastorm hotspots

NK cells complexed with bispecific antibody yield high response rates in patients with lymphoma

Planetary health diet and mediterranean diet associated with similar survival and sustainability benefits

Singapore launches national standard to validate antimicrobial disinfectant products

Molecular stool test could improve detection of tuberculosis in adults with HIV

Suspected fibrocartilaginous embolus in Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus)

Enhancing heat transfer using the turbulent flow of viscoelastic fluids

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

[Press-News.org] Tweet and re-tweet: songbird stuttering allows researchers to pinpoint causes in the brain
Misfiring neurons in specific regions of the bird brain leads to stuttering patterns, and provides a model to explore treatments to restore normal speech