Charles Higgins finds gene changes in birds could improve Alzheimer’s treatments

ECE Associate Professor Charles Higgins recently published a study in the journal Neurobiology of Aging on age-related gene expression changes in zebra finches. Higgins, who has a joint appointment with the University of Arizona’s Department of Neuroscience, and colleagues studied birdsong and the structure of gene networks in the brain that influence singing. 

The brain structures related to singing in zebra finches and those controlling human speech are similar. So-called hub genes influence the activity of other genes in networks in the finch brains. The study also found that singing and gene expression differed among finches of different ages. 

A better understanding of how these gene networks change over time could help to develop treatments for age-related neurological conditions.

"If you could make a drug that could influence a particular hub gene, you might potentially influence hundreds of other genes around it and see a macroscopic effect. That could be a drug that could slow Alzheimer’s disease, for example," said Higgins.