Researchers are presently working on the idea of developing treatments for treating age-related degenerative diseases of the brain such as Parkinson’s and dementia by giving a thought to remarkable changes in the brains of tiny songbirds every year.

A striking shrinkage in size of the brain regions controlling singing behavior of Gambel’s white-crowned sparrows was reported by researchers from the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Having an animal model system with such robust neurodegeneration could be very useful in uncovering the mechanisms that underlie these kinds of diseases,” he said. “We will be looking at the molecular mechanisms of what happens when testosterone is removed. As men age, circulating levels of testosterone decrease, and other researchers have shown that this decline may contribute to cognitive impairment, brain disorders and neuron death.”

Brenowitz added: “There is no reason to think that these processes are restricted to birds. They are very similar to what happens in some mammals. This study shows that regions of the brain that are hormonally sensitive are going to regress without testosterone. The flip side is that hormones such as testosterone protect neurons, so perhaps some form of hormone therapy may provide protection. Steroids such as testosterone are very potent and have wide implications for effects on the brain.”

Christopher Thompson, lead author of the study and a UW doctoral student in neurobiology and behavior classified the changes as significant. The co-authors of this study were Eliot Brenowitz, a UW professor of psychology and biology, and George Bentley, a former UW postdoctoral researcher who is now a UC Berkeley assistant professor of integrative biology.