Brain plasticity: The brains of canary females maintain the ability to sing throughout their lives, even though the birds do not usually sing, shining light on how neural circuits can stay dormant yet functional.

Advanced techniques: Using a combination of advanced microscopy and spatial gene expression patterns, researchers found that a brain region important for singing (the “HVC”) does not to physically grow for birds to produce songs. Instead, under the influence of hormones, existing neurons change their behavior, becoming more or less active, strengthening or weakening their connections, and altering their gene expression patterns.