Ever Awestruck at the Learning Skills of the Brain?

Mechanisms that underlie the brain’s ability to sing and learn fine motor skills have been discerned by scientists at the Oregon Health & Science University, published in the journal Nature Communications. The study shows that specialized cells within neural circuitry that are responsible for triggering complex learning in songbirds bear a striking resemblance to a type of neural cell. This neural cell is associated with the development of fine motor skills in the cortex of the human brain.

“These are the properties you need if you want to have a male song that’s precise and distinct so the female can choose which bird she wants to mate with. You need a highly specialized brain to produce this,” says co-senior author Henrique von Gersdorff, Ph.D., senior scientist at the OHSU Vollum Institute.

This particular group of neurons expresses a set of genes that modulate specific sodium ion channel proteins. Generally, these channels generate electrical signals for cell-to-cell communication in the nervous system.

These findings deepen scientific understanding for the mechanism involved in various aspects of human behavior and development concerned with fine motor control.

This would further allow one to explore the mechanisms that may be involved when the connection goes awry.

Source-Medindia