Seasonal programmed brain cell death foiled in living birds

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Brain neurons programmed to die in white-crowned sparrows have been kept alive for seven days by University of Washington researchers. Photo by Tsu-Wei Wang
Brain neurons programmed to die in white-crowned sparrows have been kept alive for seven days by University of Washington researchers. Photo by Tsu-Wei Wang

Neurons in brains of one songbird species equipped with a built-in suicide program that kicks in at the end of the breeding season have been kept alive for seven days in live birds by researchers trying to understand the role that steroid hormones play in the growth and maintenance of the neural song system.


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All News summaries for July 09, 2008

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