# Neurogenetic mechanisms underlying effects of chronic stress on vocal learning in adults and juveniles

> **NIH NIH R21** · NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY LAS CRUCES · 2022 · $412,519

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Chronic stress can have diverse and often detrimental effects on cognitive function and overall
health. When an individual is in a stressful situation, glucocorticoid (GC) hormones are released
that bind to neurons and other cells expressing GC receptors, thereby altering gene expression
and cellular activities. Although some changes driven by GC hormones can be beneficial in the
short term, like mobilization of energy stores, repeated or chronic exposure to stressors can have
many detrimental effects. Among these are a variety of behavioral and cognitive disorders,
including diminished language learning. These effects have been well-studied in the context of
early-life stress and vocal learning, in part through the use of avian model systems that are
capable of learning early in life. How chronic stress experienced by adults affects their language
learning is less understood, largely because of the lack of a suitable animal model. In this study
we will employ a parrot model (the budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus) that, like humans, is
capable of life-long learning to test the hypothesis that chronic stress reduces the ability of adults
to learn new vocalizations via impacts on neuronal gene expression in the underlying neural
centers of the brain. We will subject groups of adult budgerigars to either elevated or baseline
chronic stress via environmental disruption and compare levels of circulating GC’s, speed and
accuracy of vocal learning, and degree of social integration in the two treatments. We will also
examine changes in the expression of GC receptors and key language-related genes in brain
nuclei devoted to vocal learning. In a separate experiment, we will examine the interactions
between early-life and adult chronic stress using a fully crossed experiment in which groups of
budgerigars will experience either high or baseline stress as juveniles and again as adults (i.e. a
double-hit model). We will then monitor the same behavioral and neural measures of vocal
learning to test whether early life stress buffers individuals from the effects of stress during
adulthood, or compounds the effects of later stress. In sum, these aims will comprehensively
investigate the impacts of chronically elevated glucocorticoids on the cellular mechanisms
mediating a key cognitive trait that underlies human speech and language.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10527057
- **Project number:** 1R21NS126079-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY LAS CRUCES
- **Principal Investigator:** TIMOTHY F WRIGHT
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $412,519
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10527057

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10527057, Neurogenetic mechanisms underlying effects of chronic stress on vocal learning in adults and juveniles (1R21NS126079-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10527057. Licensed CC0.

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