Birds brains reveal source of songs
Scientists have yearned to understand how the chirps and warbles of a young bird morph into the recognizable and very distinct melodies of its parents. Neuroscientists at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT now have come one step closer to understanding that process. They've shown for the first time how a particular brain region in birds serves as the source of vocal creativity....Migratory songbirds have a specialized night-vision brain area
Neurobiologists have discovered a specialized night-vision brain area in night-migratory songbirds. They believe the area might enable the birds to navigate by the stars, and to visually detect the earth's magnetic field through photoreceptor molecules, whose light-sensitivity is modulated by the field. The researchers published their findings May 23, 2005, in the early online edition of t...Grasshopper love songs give insight into sensory tuning
As anyone whose nerves have been jangled by a baby's howl or who have been riveted by the sight of an attractive person knows, nature has evolved sensory systems to be exquisitely tuned to relevant input. A major question in neurobiology is how neurons tune the strength of their interconnections to optimally respond to such inputs. Neuronal circuitry consists of a web of neurons, each trig...Displaced songbirds navigate in the high Arctic
By experimentally relocating migratory white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii) from their breeding area in the Canadian Northwest Territories to regions at and around the magnetic North Pole, researchers have gained new insight into how birds navigate in the high Arctic. In particular, the findings aid our understanding of how birds might determine longitudinal information--a cha...Bird song changes sound alarm over habitat fragmentation
Changes in bird song could be used as an early warning system to detect man-made ecological disturbances, new research published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology has found. Although much previous research has focused on bird song and vocal mimicry, this is the first study to analyse the role played by habitat loss and fragmentation on song-matching. Ecologists...A New CD With Songs On HIV/AIDS Prevention Launched
A CD intended to spread the message of HIV/AIDS prevention among young people has been produced by group of musicians as a part of the AIDS Responsibility Project.// The CD launched at this month's International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada was put together by volunteer singers and producers and is called 'What Are We Living For.' The CD contains songs, which emphasize on hope,...Songs Could Help to Overcome Flood Trauma
Can a song help overcome flood trauma? Yes, say psychiatrists here who have come up with innovative ways of helping people to recover from the trauma caused by weeks of flooding.// A team of psychiatrists is urging people to get back to their daily routines and hum a motivational song when they can. While the song is being repeatedly broadcast on FM radio stations, the psychiat...Heavenly Notes from a Life Etched With Disability: The Strangest Song
Aged 51, Gloria Lenhoff, struggles to do simple arithmetic or to make change for a dollar. She is incapable of pointing out which is left or right. //She can’t write down her name clearly, nor can she cross a road all by herself. She is a differently abled person. She can sing like a nightingale although her IQ is only 55. Trained well as a classical lyric soprano, she knows hundreds of s...Gere Jives To Bollywood Songs To Spread AIDS Awareness
Hollywood icon Richard Gere Wednesday evening swayed to the tunes of catchy Bollywood numbers at a glittering event aimed at spreading AIDS awareness// that saw participation of over 10,000 sex workers in India's entertainment capital. Gere, dressed in a pair of black trousers, matching shirt and a brown jacket, danced to Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu's "Beedi Jalaile" to the delight...Bird Song Study Provides Clues to Human Speech Disorders
A recent research has found that songbirds have a distinct right-brain response to the sound of songs, and can provide clues to human speech disorders . Researchers at the Methodist Neurological Institute (NI) in Houston and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City used functional MRI to find out the results. The study has created base for a foundational study for futu...Songer Cable Cervical Thoracic System
Description:The Songer Cable System is a unique and versatile posterior spinal implant system. Intended for compressive spinal fusion constructs, as a translational implant in correction of deformity, or simply as an anchoring element for bone or metallic implants, cables have performed well in a variety of implant configurations. Songer Cables offer advantages in strength, flexibility, consistency, and imag...