This is the kind of research the world needs.
Tho sadly, when reading about drunken birds in a British publication, I was not expecting to read about finches.
*HIC*... tweet: Sloshed birdsh shlur songs, boffins say
Pissed birds' songs become slurred in a similar way to that of humans' speech after a night on the sauce. That's the conclusion from brain boffins who studied zebra finches to try to get a better handle on the effects of alcohol on cognitive function. Little is apparently known about booze-related garbled speech. Researchers …
-
-
-
Friday 2nd January 2015 15:02 GMT harmjschoonhoven
Re: drunken birds in a British publication
Christopher R. Olson (Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road L470, Portland, Oregon, UNITED STATES of AMERICA 97239-3098) et al. wrote in their publication:
"In the presence of females, male zebra finches reliably produce female-directed song as part of their courtship behavior. ... The study design assigned adult male finches to alcohol or control drinking treatments."
and more interesting for our British readers:
"Body mass ... remained constant across phases for the birds that were provided alcohol.".
-
-
-
Tuesday 30th December 2014 23:29 GMT Robert Helpmann??
IgNobel
Scientists studied zebra finches because they were considered "a representative songbird and a premier model for understanding the neurobiology of vocal production and learning".
Translating from Boffinish, "We used zebra finches because we had some on hand." It's a well studied species, same as the fruit fly, rats and mice. I feel compelled to give them a thumbs up, though, for the timing of the publication. Happy New Year!
-
-
-
Tuesday 30th December 2014 18:26 GMT Mark 85
Department of the Obvious?
I have to wonder why they even bothered except to get a grant (tax dollars probably). Anyone who's ever gotten sloshed or had a pet lapped some up knows this: alcohol interferes with both cognitive and motor functions. Otherwise, we wouldn't fall down or know that all women are beautiful at closing time.
Since we don't have an icon for beer goggles, this one will have to work ---->
Biting the hand that feeds IT
