Why don't woodpeckers have brain damage?

[Marco]

I have to admit that the idea of woodpeckers and headaches gives me the giggles.

But it's a valid question when you appreciate that their pecking can generate forces up to 1200G.

Scientists have now found some evidence of the accumulation of tau protein - the same proteins linked to neurodegenerative diseases in humans.

Perhaps they do eventually show behavioural signs of brain damage or maybe tau proteins in the woodpeckers' case are an adaptive response :

He notes that woodpeckers have neck muscles and cranial bone structures that protect them from the 1200 Gs of force—that is, 1200 times the force of gravity—they sustain while pecking. “Why would those adaptations stop at the brain?”

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/could-woodpeckers-teach-nfl-how-prevent-brain-injuries

 

[Valentijn]

The future of American football: played by woodpeckers

Edited to add my illustration of how this will look:

 

[arewenearlythereyet]

Its possible that they may not remember they have a headache?

 

[Adrian]

Scientists have now found some evidence of the accumulation of tau protein - the same proteins linked to neurodegenerative diseases in humans.

If a lifespan is short (I don't know the how long woodpeckers live) then degenerative diseases may not be a problem. Evolutionary adaptations will lead to survival so it could be that something that would lead to degenerative disease later in life but have short term benefits could be useful in an animal with a relatively short lifespan and where the time they look after their babies is short.

 

[Marco]

If a lifespan is short (I don't know the how long woodpeckers live) then degenerative diseases may not be a problem. Evolutionary adaptations will lead to survival so it could be that something that would lead to degenerative disease later in life but have short term benefits could be useful in an animal with a relatively short lifespan and where the time they look after their babies is short.

Yes indeed. All they need to do is make it to reproductive age and a little beyond. But what if they do live to a ripe old age (relatively speaking).

 

[Valentijn]

But what if they do live to a ripe old age (relatively speaking).

A long life for a woodpecker still wouldn't be at all comparable to a long life for a human. The tissues simply aren't around for as long.

 

[Marco]

A long life for a woodpecker still wouldn't be at all comparable to a long life for a human. The tissues simply aren't around for as long.

Isn't tissue longevity related to metabolism?

Possibly : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15855403

 

[Mij]

 

[arewenearlythereyet]

Isn't tissue longevity related to metabolism?

Possibly : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15855403

I thought that as well. Also with regards to heart rate, doesn't a mouses heart have as many beats in it as an elephant during their very different lifetimes ? I thought that this was related to new cardiac muscle cells being a lot slower to be replaced than normal cells. Having said that the last time I studied cell biology and anatomy was the late eighties at uni so I may be remembering it wrong ot it may be out of date.

Besides, I have no idea what a woodpeckers heart rate is in relation to its normal lifespan so ....

 

[arewenearlythereyet]

Yeah I'm not losing it

https://biology.stackexchange.com/q...een-heartbeat-rate-and-life-span-of-an-animal

So small animals have a faster metabolism and faster heart rate. Faster metabolism means greater cell death due to oxidants etc, cardiac cell reproduction and cell aging process is limited...so tissues are effectively super aged in relation to their lifespan.

Or so the theory goes

 

[Dechi]

I have to admit that the idea of woodpeckers and headaches gives me the giggles.

But it's a valid question when you appreciate that their pecking can generate forces up to 1200G.

Scientists have now found some evidence of the accumulation of tau protein - the same proteins linked to neurodegenerative diseases in humans.

Perhaps they do eventually show behavioural signs of brain damage or maybe tau proteins in the woodpeckers' case are an adaptive response :



http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/could-woodpeckers-teach-nfl-how-prevent-brain-injuries

Have you watched « Concussion » with Will Smith ? If you like this subject I think you’d like it !

 

[Marco]

Have you watched « Concussion » with Will Smith ? If you like this subject I think you’d like it !

Thanks. My interest in this and related issues is more generally what may happen to the brain after an 'insult' but I'm always on the lookout for a decent movie.

 

[Skycloud]

Have you watched « Concussion » with Will Smith ? If you like this subject I think you’d like it !

That's a coincidence - I'm watching this right now!

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

It seems that woodpeckers live up to about 15 years.

This guy seemed an old bird.

It took me ten years to find it, eventually in Latvia - the elusive white backed woodpecker.

 

[Daisybell]

Slightly off-topic (which seems to be what my brain does nowadays...), I have a chook who is over 6 years old. It’s been interesting watching her ageing. She sleeps for most of the time, and if I don’t get her up in the morning, she will stay in the coop and then of course doesn’t eat. When I persuade her outside, she is very slow to eat and I have to remind her where the food is. So far, she is remembering to drink unaided. But - definitely cognitive deterioration as well as physical stiffness and I suspect painful joints. Some days, she goes round for hours with one eye shut!! However, she still has a good life!

 

[Barry]

I thought they have some sort of shock-absorber mechanism.

 

[Barry]

Its possible that they may not remember they have a headache?

Or too brain damaged to know it?

 

[Marco]

It seems that woodpeckers live up to about 15 years.

This guy seemed an old bird.

It took me ten years to find it, eventually in Latvia - the elusive white backed woodpecker.

Very nice photo. Well you're a doctor. Did he seem compos mentis?