Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University have found that birds slur after getting drunk just like human do. Scientists selected Zebra finch, a song bird that learns to sing in the same manner as humans learn speech.
In the study made, Researcher described how a group of zebra finches reacted after being given a mixture of grape juice and ethanol. They have recorded how the acoustics of the song altered after having alcohol.
Researchers wrote “The most pronounced effects were decreased amplitude and increased entropy, the latter likely reflecting a disruption in the birds’ ability to maintain the spectral structure of song under alcohol,”
“Furthermore, specific syllables, which have distinct acoustic structures, were differentially influenced by alcohol, likely reflecting a diversity in the neural mechanisms required for their production.” They added.
Zebra finch will prove to be a powerful model in understanding how alcohol affects learned social behaviors in humans, the researchers said.
