explore -WSS

explore

author：explore 2025-09-14 10:30:57 - browse：6

Zebra Finch — Florida State University scientists are studying how male zebra finches learn to sing. Mohammad Abdullah/Creative Commons

Scientists have long suspected songbirds might hold the secrets to better understanding how human learn to talk. Now several Florida-based researchers believe understanding how some birds sing could someday lead to answers about some human developmental learning disabilities.

A team of Florida State University scientists — led by psychologist Rick Hyson, statistician Wei Wu, biomathematician Richard Bertram, and neuroanatomist Frank Johnson — have received an $800,000 National Science Foundation grant to study the brains of male zebra finches and how they learn to sing.

Speaking by phone from his Tallahassee, Fla., office, Hyson told STAT the answer may have something to do with how electrical pulses pass through the songbird’s network of neurons in the brain — and how early-life experiences potentially change brain function. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Unlock this article by subscribing to STAT+ and enjoy your first 30 days free!

GET STARTED Log In

Previous article： Guidelines to prevent youth baseball injuries need more muscle
Next article： How dance can help health care workers heal from trauma

WSS

Lecanemab for Alzheimer's is coming. Is the health system ready?

Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten released from prison after 53 years

Trump got a 'target letter.' What is one and what does it mean?

Ebola public health emergency is over, WHO declares

India sets sights on home

Petition to FDA: Get the lead out of consumer hair dyes

hotspot

explore

entertainment

Malaria cases in Florida and Texas: Here’s what you need to know

Why 40% Americans with Parkinson’s don’t see a neurologist

Trump demands the U.S. pay no more for drugs than other countries … again

Why ADHD is under

Dobbs anniversary: the lost opportunity of abortion as health care

How dance can help health care workers heal from trauma

Drug repurposing or repositioning? The language matters

Lecanemab for Alzheimer's is coming. Is the health system ready?

Hepatitis C has a cure — but many Americans still lack access to it

A new study sees potential in DNA sequencing of infants

entertainment

Seattle police shoot person suspected in downtown stabbing

Plane’s emergency slide plummets from sky, hits Chicago home

It's time to get medical device identifiers over the finish line

NIH fellows want a pay raise. Will that mean less money for grants?

Russia strikes Ukraine's critical port facilities in Odesa after halting grain deal

Bulgari apologizes to China for listing Taiwan as a country after online backlash

hotspot

hotspot

focus

knowledge