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BIRD-BRAIN LINK

UCLA scientists have found parallels between human speech and the song of a bird, findings that may contain clues to human speech disorders. According to a team led by Stephanie White, assistant professor of physiological science, two genes shared by humans and songbirds, FoxP1 and FoxP2, may play a critical role in human speech and speech disorders. “We examined the expression of FoxP1 and FoxP2 in embryonic human brains and found a striking correspondence between bird and human expression,” said White, a member of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute. “Our findings make it more likely that FoxP2 plays a critical role for learning speech and vocalization in both humans and the songbird,” she said. FoxP2 is in the brain of the zebra finch in regions that control the learning of song, said White, who explained that additional unknown molecules are likely to interact with the gene.

SWEET BABY JAMES

Singer and songwriter James Taylor, the troubadour behind many of pop music’s most enduring hits, will accept the George and Ira Gershwin Award for lifetime musical achievement at Spring Sing on April 30 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. Dating back to the 1940s, Spring Sing is a student musical competition sponsored by the UCLA Alumni Association that takes place each year before a panel of celebrity judges and an audience of more than 4,500 students, alumni and friends. “Steal the Show” begins at 8 p.m. and showcases 16 acts that were selected to compete in four categories: solo/duet, band, a cappella/ensemble and production. One additional act was selected to perform as an exhibition. Tickets are on sale now at the Central Ticket Office: (310) 825-2101.

RELIVING THE BUNCHE ERA

The UCLA Library has launched an online exhibit celebrating the legacy of one of UCLA’s most distinguished alumni, Ralph Johnson Bunche (1903-71), as a student, scholar and diplomat. Visitors can read his personal and official correspondence, diary entries, scripts for speeches, manuscripts for articles and family photos. “ ‘ ... the great good that is in us’: A Centenary Celebration of Ralph J. Bunche,” draws from the Ralph J. Bunche papers and the Brian Urquhart Collection of Material about Ralph Bunche, both held by the Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections. Visit the collection at www.library.ucla.edu/bunche.