Award details

Genetic and environmental influences on song development and sex differences in the songbird brain

Reference	BB/C500260/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Clive Catchpole
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Dr Katherine Buchanan, Dr Stefan Leitner
Institution	Royal Holloway, Univ of London
Department	Biological Sciences
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	240,396
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	01/08/2004
End date	31/01/2008
Duration	42 months

Abstract

How genes and environment combine to shape the development of brain and behaviour remains a central question in areas of biology and psychology. Bird song and the underlying neural pathway which controls song production and learning is now well understood, and so offers a powerful model for the integrated study of brain and behaviour. Current views stress the importance of learning, but we have recently found that both song production and the size of the song control pathway are under tight genetic control. These preliminary findings challenge current views, and this project will now use a series of isolation and breeding experiments to quantify genetic and environmental (including stress) effects upon both song and brain development. Recently, our views on how song develops as an honest indicator of male quality, have been influenced by the developmental stress hypothesis. This suggests that only young males of superior quality can withstand environmental stress (such as food shortage or parasites) and also afford the extra costs of neural development needed to produce more complex songs as sexual signals. We will not only test this but also investigate the underlying mechanisms involved. To do this we will monitor the production of sex hormones and the stress hormone corticosterone, but also use recently developed molecular markers to reveal their receptive fields in parts of the song control pathway. Finally, the role of the song control pathway in females has received much less attention. We will use females from our isolation and stress experiments to study the development of sex differences in the brain, and also to study genetic and environmental effects upon female choice and brain development. Together, these experiments will make a major contribution to the BBSRC theme Neuroscience and Behaviour, and the priority area From Neurone to Behaviour.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Animal Sciences (AS)
Research Topics	X – not assigned to a current Research Topic
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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