Sitting under the fluorescent lights in the Hall of Science, I imagine this environment is not too different from the lab in which senior Biology major Ashley Rabenold conducted her summer research. Though many students spend their summers helping a professor run experiments and collect data, Rabenold’s job – performing brain surgery on zebra finches – stands out.
Rabenold worked alongside Assistant Professor of Psychology Nancy Day to understand how FOXP2, a gene that has previously been linked to human speech, operates in songbirds. Rabenold described the kinds of procedures she conducted.
“There were a couple different reasons why we would do surgery. Some of them were survival surgeries, where we would inject the gene [FOXP2] in the bird and then the bird would wake up from the surgery… and live its life as if nothing ever happened. Other surgeries were practice surgeries where we could make sure we were injecting the gene in the correct spot in the brain. So unfortunately, those birds did not wake up from [those] surgeries,” Rabenold said.
When I first caught wind that the Whitman psychology department was conducting experiments with live specimens I was surprised. The unearthing of two populated bird laboratories in our own Maxey Hall was beyond what I could have imagined. At most, I had anticipated only a few specimens in one small room.
There are approximately 50 songbirds or “zebra finches” and 30 pigeons that inhabit two separate laboratories on the third floor of Maxey Hall. These numbers are hard to believe, especially if you’ve ever taken a class in the academic building. Neat rows of classrooms give no hint of dozens of birds residing in the interior.
Songbirds are so named because, exactly as their name suggests, they’re musical! Not only do they have unique control over their vocal muscles, allowing them to sing, unlike many other passerine birds (a large subgroup of birds that includes songbirds), songbirds also do not intuitively know songs from the moment they are born, and therefore have to learn them. Much like humans, young songbirds learn how to sing from older birds, who once learned how to sing from the adult birds in their young lives. Zebra finches tend to follow a basic song template, adding twists occasionally, creating a few different songs, and have a crucial first-year learning period. However, other types of songbirds, like Mockingbirds, can learn numerous different songs throughout their lives, creating something reminiscent of a playlist. Like most forms of communication in the animal kingdom, singing mainly serves the purpose of finding a mate and defending their home.
Songbirds’ exceptional ability to learn and pass down knowledge through generations is one reason why they make excellent psychology subjects.
I spoke to Natalie Lundberg, a fellow student researcher and senior Brain, Behavior, and Cognition (BB&C) major about her duties on the job.
“My main duties included bird care, song recording, pitch shifting, surgery to inject FOXP2 gene into the brain, electrophysiology recordings and analysis, and sectioning and staining brain tissue. When we did electrophysiology we would surgically place an electrode into a region of the brain that we were interested in. Then, we would play a variety of recorded zebra finch songs to the bird, one that was his own song, one that was his tutors’ song, and one random song, and measure the action potentials of the neuron that the electrode was placed in. With this, we could measure activity levels in different brain regions in response to different stimuli,” Lundberg said.
In simpler terms, administering surgery on the birds was the main event of the research. They would anesthetize the bird and inject the FOXP2 gene into a specific area of the brain. In humans, FOXP2 has been found to be closely related to speech development and some scientists want to know if it has the same function in non-human animals as well. Birds across two categories of maturity participated in the surgery: birds early in development who were still learning songs, and birds later in development that had already learned songs.
After the initial injection during surgery, they would perform electrophysiology, a method used to study electrical functions of the body, to analyze the impacts of the gene injection on the bird’s brain activity, facilitated through playing various songs a bird may or may not recognize. This would essentially demonstrate whether injecting the gene had an effect overall on a bird’s retention and learning success with the songs.
Both Lundberg and Rabenold commented on the initial apprehension they felt performing the surgeries.
“In the beginning, it was hard for me to do the brain surgeries on the birds because even though they are anesthetized they are still a live animal and it was difficult to watch them flutter or flinch during it. Over time, however, we got better at the techniques, which reduced the responses from the birds and I was able to remember that our work is contributing to a larger body of important data on language [and] song systems,” Lundberg said.
Lundberg makes a significant point here – that researchers conducting animal studies should make the process as humane and painless as possible, but that some sacrifices may be inherent to the process of learning.
Professor of Psychology Wally Herbranson is head of the pigeon lab, and works alongside Day to oversee various biological and behavioral animal studies conducted by the psychology and BB&C departments. Herbranson’s work is more behaviorally based than the zebra finch lab. The pigeon lab tests things like learning, memory, and attention. Each pigeon is taken out of their usual crate, at least once a day, and taken to a different enclosure, where Herbranson and his students are able to utilize operant conditioning (learning taught through receiving rewards) more effectively.
“I’m interested in cognitive processes in pigeons, particularly how they’re similar to or different from cognitive processes in other animals, including but not limited to humans… I don’t do any biological or physiological manipulation. I don’t use punishment. I convince the pigeons to do what I want them to do, by their own volition,” Herbranson said.
He further explained how all animal research done on campus is approved by Whitman, first through the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).
I was given a tour of both bird labs, as well as the rat lab, which only contains a few rats that are leftovers from a class he taught last Spring. He gave the rest away as pets.
All of this presents a controversial question: Even if there are laws and regulations, is ethical animal testing ever possible?
In my conversations, a distinct comment from Rabenold came up that illuminates the ethical considerations essential to animal testing.
“My heart hurts sometimes for them [the birds] so I think that, overall, making sure that they were comfortable, and not experiencing any pain [was important.] Because it is still animal testing and experimenting on these animals. But I think the materials that we have allowed us to treat the birds with as much respect as possible.”
There may be an argument to be had that, if the psychological distress or physical pain to an animal can be minimized, the greater good of science triumphs over all.
The American Psychological Association (APA) supports Rabenold’s point that efforts to reduce harm to animal subjects are essential.
“Researchers who study nonhumans recognize that their studies may involve certain harms that can range from the relatively minor (e.g., drawing a blood sample) to the more serious (e.g., neurosurgery). The research community tries to mitigate some of the harms by ensuring, for example, that the animals’ psychological well-being is optimized; in fact, there is a large body of psychological research that focuses on animal welfare and identifying best practices to house and care for animals in captivity,” the APA website states.
The APA further emphasizes the importance of animal testing in expanding scientific knowledge.
“Without any animal research, effective treatments for human conditions like Alzheimer’s disease may very well be found, but it would certainly take decades longer to find them, and in the meantime, millions and millions of additional people would suffer.”
These quotes illustrate the significant role animals have played in scientific study throughout the field’s history, while also demonstrating the modern standards in place, shaping practices and research for the better.
Animals are sacrificed every day to help advance scientific understanding and humankind. At Whitman, the professors and student researchers are contributing to a valuable greater cause and treating their animal subjects with compassion. Perhaps, like them, we should take a moment every once in a while, to recognize and be grateful for the animals that are studied, and the subsequent scientific advancements that have come to fruition.