The small brain of a zebra sparrow might help scientists answer the question of how humans learn to speak words to speak. Like humans, birds learn to twitter by imitating.
Rockefeller University Neurobiologist Professor Erich Jarvis said, "We are not only able to learn the mechanism of vocal learning in birds of chirping, but also apply the findings to humans. The reason is that we find that birds and humans have what we call a convergent brain line in genes that exist only in their bodies, and not in other animals like chickens. "
Researchers from Rockefeller university in New York used the method of isolating cells from tissue and microscopic cells to look at the brain of birds of chirping. The pictures help them understand how signals from the bird's brain resemble the process humans use when learning to speak.
Jarvis said it would take years before the findings could be used to treat people who have difficulty speaking.
"I have a ten-year hypothesis about how to engineer brain circuits and predict what kinds of genes are specialized in human brains and birds chirping. It took us five to seven years to identify the genes, and now it will likely take another five to seven years to figure out how to manipulate them, "Jarvis said.
The chirping birds can help scientists learn the origin of speech disorders caused by autism, stroke and Parkinson's disease.
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