title: Possible linkage between neuronal recruitment and flight distance in migratory birds.
abstract: New neuronal recruitment in an adult animal's brain is presumed to contribute to brain plasticity and increase the animal's ability to contend with new and changing environments. During long-distance migration, birds migrating greater distances are exposed to more diverse spatial information. Thus, we hypothesized that greater migration distance in birds would correlate with the recruitment of new neurons into the brain regions involved with migratory navigation. We tested this hypothesis on two Palearctic migrants - reed warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) and turtle doves (Streptopelia turtur), caught in Israel while returning from Africa in spring and summer. Birds were injected with a neuronal birth marker and later inspected for new neurons in brain regions known to play a role in navigation - the hippocampus and nidopallium caudolateral. We calculated the migration distance of each individual by matching feather isotopic values (δ(2)H and δ(13)C) to winter base-maps of these isotopes in Africa. Our findings suggest a positive correlation between migration distance and new neuronal recruitment in two brain regions - the hippocampus in reed warblers and nidopallium caudolateral in turtle doves. This multidisciplinary approach provides new insights into the ability of the avian brain to adapt to different migration challenges.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 61391, Israel.
authors.forename: Shay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barkan
authors.affiliation: School of Geography &the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, United Kingdom.|Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Uri
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Roll
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 61391, Israel.
authors.forename: Yoram
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yom-Tov
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Leonard I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Wassenaar
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural and Life Sciences, The Open University of Israel, Ra'anana 43107, Israel.
authors.forename: Anat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barnea
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D025041:Animal Migration / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D010856:Columbidae / Q000502:physiology*; D005241:Feathers / Q000737:chemistry; D005426:Flight, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D007557:Israel; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D012621:Seasons; D020308:Songbirds / Q000502:physiology*; D065854:Spatial Navigation / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes