The trick baffles researchers — but they are getting closer to understanding how the songbird does it. The trick baffles researchers — but they are getting closer to understanding how the songbird does it.
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Many men have been a little overexcited on the dance floor and showed off moves that have never been seen before. Blame alcohol.
Testosterone has a similar effect. A little too much and the frequency of overzealous wooing behavior may increase, but the quality won t go up with it.
For the male canary, the ability to sing a pitch-perfect song is critical to wooing female canaries and as the seasons change, so does song quality and frequency.
Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have found that introducing testosterone in select areas of a male canary s brain can affect its ability to successfully attract and mate with a female through birdsong. They also found that enhancing song activity based on testosterone in one brain area can change the size of a separate brain area that regulates song quality. These findings could shed light on how testosterone acts in the human brain to regulate speech or help explain how anabolic steroids affect human behaviors.