Alcohol affects birds’ singing much as it does human speech

Washington Post : To better understand the effects of alcohol consumption on human speech, researchers have turned to the zebra finch. According to a study published in PLOS ONE, not only do zebra finches learn to sing much the same way humans learn to talk, but unlike most other animals, they are willing to consume alcohol. After allowing the birds to achieve blood alcohol levels of about .08%, the researchers studied the effects on the birds’ singing rate, sound levels, and enunciation. They found that once inebriated, the birds continued to sing but tended to “slur their songs” and sing more quietly. However, the finding that some syllables were more garbled than others led the researchers to propose that alcohol affects various parts of the brain differently. Further study will be needed to pinpoint which elements of the brain’s circuitry are most susceptible to alcohol and exactly what the effects are on complex motor abilities.