Washington DC: Julie Miller, assistant professor, University of Arizona in Department of Neurosciences and Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences intend using information on production of birdsong for searching causes of vocal disorder being driven by brains. Song birds have specified brain regions which allow producing and learning songs by them. You could study such region’s changes of brains.
Then link it with songs coming from beaks. Miller says she has long-term dreams for developing therapies better by attempting gene mutations or circuit activities in brains leading to problems in speech. Her labs are funded by grants from Parkinson’s and Movement Disorder Foundation. Miller receives funding from National Institutes of Health and a faculty seed grant from Office for Research and Discovery.
Scientists do not understand as to what change in brains and genes cause speech disorders. Birds not only have same developments of speech to humans. But they can share fewer genes importantly in regions of brains being involved in speech productions. It reveals that in case Miller understands as to how change in brain of songbird leads change in songs, issue with production of human speech must have same causes.
Miller is a researcher for studying zebra finches as models for behaviors of humans. Neuroscientists had have conducted development of comprehensive literature regarding zebra finches and brains over long duration of time.
