Images from our research

The following images are taken from our research news. You can find more information on the respective topics under "News & Events" or via the news sections of the individual department and group pages. If you have any questions about the research, want to use an image, or if you’re looking for related images, please email us at: communications@bi.mpg.de.

Colourful city birds

Bird species that do well in urban areas are more colourful and less brown. The Blue-faced Honeyeater (Entomyzon cyanotis) successfully colonized urban areas in Australia. Like many urban-dwelling bird species, it is characterized by conspicuous plumage colouration.

Research from Bart Kempenaers` department.

Too tired to stay alert? A difficult trade-off between sleep and vigilance

Sleep-deprived jackdaws spent more time in deep, symmetrical sleep – especially early in the night, when the need to recover is greatest. Observing how birds navigate the trade-off between vigilance and sleep can help to better understand sleep in general.

Research from Niels Rattenborg`s group.

What drives our cravings for food and drink?

Specialized “thirst” and “hunger” neurons in the amygdala operate through distinct circuits, influencing the drive to eat or drink.

Research from Rüdiger Klein`s Department

Neurons gather together for vision

This is a 3D rendering of a section of the visual cortex in the mouse. Neurons that process information from one eye are arranged in columns (red) running from the top to the bottom layer of the cortex. The ‘red’ columns are surrounded by neurons processing information from the other eye (blue). For a long time, it was assumed that such structures did not exist in the mouse visual cortex.

Research from Tobias Bonhoeffer`s department

A Clever Strategy for Getting Rid of Testosterone

There are three morphs in ruffs that differ in their appearance and mating behavior. Males of the aggressive Independents (left) have more testosterone in their blood than the other two morphs (a male Satellite is seen on the right). New research shows that this difference is controlled by a single gene.

Research from Clemens Küpper`s group.

Should I stay or should I go: When do young fish leave their home?

3D-printed shell halves allowed researchers to peek inside the cichlid's home and observe the behavior of the mother and her fry during brood care.

Research from Herwig Baier`s department.

Testosterone: a male and a female sex hormone

Researchers have succeeded in breeding chickens without androgen receptor. This allowed them to study how androgen signaling affects development and appearance. In roosters without receptors (left), some of the typical external sexual characteristics were underdeveloped compared to roosters with receptors (right).

Research from Manfred Gahr`s department.

Underestimated female tutors: zebra finch mothers coach their sons to sing better

Female zebra finches play a far more active and crucial role in shaping their sons' singing abilities than previously thought: They call in response to their son's vocal exercises, which activates a neuronal circuit in the male brain.

Research from Daniela Vallentin`s group.

Teaching Old Birds New Tricks

Reactivate lost learning abilities: Study shows how old zebra finches can learn new songs again.

Research from Daniela Vallentin`s group.
© MPI for Biological Intelligence / Julia Kuhl

Zebra finch chicks don't babble for no reason

The babbling of zebra finches creates connections in the brain that enable them to memorize the song of their tutor. The picture shows a zebra finch chick (2nd from left) between a female (left) and a male (right).

Research from Manfred Gahr`s department.

Why young males have lower mating success

Young blue tit males can sire offspring with additional females, but only if they do not have to compete with older males.

Research from Bart Kempenaers department.

A brain circuit that spoils your appetite

Specialized nerve cells in the amygdala are activated during nausea and elicit appetite-suppressing signals.

Research from Rüdiger Klein`s department.

Developmental crossroads in the brain

Brain functions such as motivated behavior, reward learning and decision making are enabled by inhibitory projection neurons. Researchers now show that the protein MEIS2 plays an essential role in the correct development of these neurons.

Research from Christian Mayer`s group

Insulin affects the recycling of cellular power plants

Striking the right balance: In nerve cells, the hormone insulin and the protein PINK1 control whether cellular power plants are kept running or whether they are shut down. When sufficient energy is available in the body, insulin facilitates the elimination of defective mitochondria. When energy is scarce or when the insulin signal is interrupted, mitochondrial recycling is reduced and cells continue to use their old power plants.

Research from Angelika Harbauer's group.

Visible calcium concentrations

The new indicator molecule GreenT-EC makes concentration changes in calcium levels in the hard-to-reach extracellular spaces visible for the first time.

Research from Oliver Griesbeck’s group.

Distributed workload in the fly brain

During motion vision certain neurons are activated by motion in one direction and inhibited by motion in the opposite direction. Researchers now show that the underlying computation is performed in the fly brain on all three network levels.

Research from Alexander Borst`s department.

Vision in the brain – hardwired for action

Neurons in the zebrafish brain that normally receive input from the retina develop just fine without that input. Surprisingly, the neurons are able to drive behavior even if they have never been in touch with the visual world. Some of these neurons and their axonal connections to motor centers are depicted here.

Research from Herwig Baier's department.

Fluorescent Fruit Fly Brain

With fewer than 200,000 nerve cells, the fruit fly brain (blue) processes highly complex temporal signals. Here, some of these nerve cells are shown in red, a single cell in the visual system is highlighted in white.

Research from Alexander Borst’s department.

How tasty is the food? Ask your brain!

The joy of eating – but when is it enough? A study now shows that the hormone ghrelin and specialized neurons regulate food intake and the associated feeling of reward.

Research from Rüdiger Klein’s department.

Mapping unknown territory

A selection of gene expression maps that have now been included in the Max Planck Zebrafish Brain (mapzebrain) atlas. The scientists mapped gene expression across the entire zebrafish brain at single-cell resolution.

Research from the department of Herwig Baier.

Passerine bird takes advantage of human settlements

Redstarts move their nesting sites closer to human settlements to protect their nest against brood parasitism. Cuckoos use an egg matching strategy to find the optimal host nest for their eggs.

Research from the department of Bart Kempenaers.

Do hormone fluctuations increase survival probabilities?

Free-living great tits show large differences in how strongly their blood hormone levels vary with environmental temperatures. These differences could make it easier for bird populations to adjust to changes in environmental conditions, such as temperature extremes.

Research from the group of Michaela Hau.

Fly eyes: not as rigid as previously thought

Fruit flies can move the retinas of their otherwise rigid compound eyes to visually follow objects and successfully cross obstacles. The retinal movements occur via two small muscles in the fly eye and strongly resemble those of the human eye.

Research from the Lise Meitner Research Group of Lisa Fenk.

Sweet sap, savory ants

Woodpeckers modified their savory receptor to taste sweet. However, wrynecks, unusual woodpeckers that specialize on ants as food, lost this ability again through an unexpected molecular change in the receptor.
Research from the group of Maude Baldwin

A brain network for social attraction

A specialized brain region enables zebrafish to detect and approach nearby conspecifics.
Research from the department of Herwig Baier

Activating the indicator and performing a shoulder check – essential also for zebra finches

Zebra finches in flight in a wind tunnel. The birds use both vision and calls to coordinate their flight positions and avoid collisions.

Citizens reveal: Pairs of rufous horneros have specific preferences when it comes to nest building

The asymmetrical nest of the rusty potter has its entrance on the right or left side. Probably the breeding pairs build the entrances on the same side of their nest also in the following years.

Hitchhiking through the nerve cell

Messenger RNAs use mitochondria as a vehicle to reach distant locations within nerve cells. There, they can be used as blueprints for the production of short-lived proteins that would not survive the long journey.
Research from the group of Angelika Harbauer.

The dark matter of the brain

Electrical synapses connect neurons in almost all brains; however, little is known about them. A study now shows for the first time where these specific synapses occur in the fruit fly brain and that they influence the function and stability of nerve cells.
Research from the department of Alexander Borst.

Zebra finch males sing in dialects and females pay attention

Using an artificial intelligence technique, researchers discovered dialects in the songs of different zebra finch populations. A small backpack including a QR code was used to track all individuals and create social interaction maps. The researchers found that females select their partner mainly according to dialect.
Research from the department of Bart Kempenaers.

One bird's joy is another bird's sorrow

Ruffs males come in three different morphs. Independents (in the back) aggressively defend a territory to impress females. Satellites (right) build alliances with Independents, while the rare Faeder males (front) look and behave like females to avoid aggressive competition with other ruff males.
Research from the group of Clemens Küpper.

Asymmetry as a building block of neuronal computations

Structure and function of neurons are closely linked in the cerebral cortex. Pyramidal cells in mouse visual cortex respond selectively to the orientation and direction of objects.
Research from the department of Tobias Bonhoeffer.

The algebra of neurons

Scientists now show that neurons in the fruit fly brain multiply by dividing by the reciprocal.
Research from the department of Alexander Borst.