Abstract #4964

Longitudinal voxel-based morphometry in juvenile zebra finch brains reveals volume changes linked to distinct stages of the critical period for song learning

Julie Hamaide¹, Kristína Lukáčová^1,2, Geert De Groof¹, Johan Van Audekerke¹, Marleen Verhoye¹, and Annemie Van der Linden¹

¹Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium, ²Department of Physiology and Ethology, Institute of Animal Biochemistry and Genetics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia

We present an in vivo longitudinal MRI study that traces relative volume changes in the brain of juvenile male zebra finches from 20 to 200 days post hatching. In parallel, we also characterized song behavior to explore whether improvements in song performance can be linked to regional volume changes in the developing bird brain.

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