Research/Photo Gallery

A convict cichlid male (left) and female (right) pair providing care for their offspring. These monogamous fish have a specific parental division of labor with males defending territories and protecting offspring from intruders while females provide direct offspring care. These fish will combine their efforts to raise their offspring to independence. We test the neural phenotype with regards to neuropeptides of single and paired individuals, as well as these neuropeptides effects on their parental care ability.

A neuron from HVC in a canary. This brain area is involved in song learning and production. Information (ultimately auditory) comes to each of the thorn-like projections (synapses) off the thicker branches (dendrites) of this cell, and is transmitted to other cells (including motor cells) via the smooth thread-like projection from the cell body (axon). Birds prevented from learning a song having fewer spine synapses than normally reared birds. There is no significant way in which the appearance or action of this cell differs from a human neuron. Contributed by: Timothy J. DeVoogd

Shown here is a male beaugregory damselfish courting a female who is in a bottle. Males are given territories made of PVC piping (artificial nest sites) which are considered high-quality nests by males and females. Males on these sites dramatically increase their reproduction, courtship, and aggression levels over males on natural nest sites. We test the effects of neuropeptides on these behaviors as well as the male's vocalizations.

New cells (black), many of them neurons, continue to form throughout life in many parts of the brains of birds. Here they are dividing in a zone of the hippocampus next to the ventricle, in an adult chickadee. As they mature, these cells migrate away from the venticle and deep into the hippocampus. Grad student Bernard Tarr has found that changes in the birds' housing environment can affect the volume of the hippocampus. He is now determining whether this treatment also affects the survival or destination of such new cells. Contributed by: Timothy J. DeVoogd

Neurons within song control nucleus RA project to the hypoglossal nucleus, which in turn ennervates muscles used in singing in birds. These neurons are much more elaborate in males than in females, in species in which only males sing. In species that sing seasonally, the neurons are highly sensitive to hormones--they add perhaps 40% more connections as steroid levels rise in the spring, and lose them when the hormone levels drop in summer and fall. Contributed by: Timothy J. DeVoogd

Please report corrections, questions, comments, and problems to: Lori Miller (lmm8 AT cornell.edu)