Birdsong and Vocal Learning: Not Just for the Birds
Neurobiologists from Duke University have found that, in birds who are able to learn songs—parrots, songbirds and hummingbirds—the brain structures involved in singing are connected to those that control movement. Further the brain areas that control movement “share many functional similarities with the brain areas for singing. This suggests that the brain pathways used for vocal learning evolved out of the brain pathways used for motor control,” according to Science Daily. That is, the ability to control movement is linked to vocal learning; the researchers also suggest that the same holds for humans:
Human brain structures for speech also lie adjacent to, and even within, areas that control movement. “We can make a plausible argument that in humans, our spoken language areas also evolved out of pre-existing motor pathways,” he said. These pathways, he believes, date back to the common ancestor of reptiles, birds and mammals, creatures called stem amniotes that lived about 300 million years ago.
The results from birds are consistent with the hypothesis that spoken language was preceded by gestural language, or communication based on movements (one of several competing explanations for the origin of spoken language), [associate professor of neurobiology Erich] Jarvis adds. Both humans and chimps gesture with the limbs while communicating, and young children gesture even before they begin talking. “Gesturing is something that goes along naturally with speech. The brain areas used for gesturing may have been co-opted and used for speech,” Jarvis said.
My son Charlie first learned to communicate—to “talk”—via sign language taught to him by a speech therapy graduate student who first taught him to imitate simple gestures and then linked those to specific things (”cracker” and “chip”; I’ve written about this in a post entitled What If My Child Never Talks?). Somehow having to do some physical action (shaking his elbow, tapping the back of his hand—these aren’t the signs for “cracker” or “chip,” but modified signs the therapist made up for Charlie) helped Charlie to start communicating and expressing himself on his own, at a time when he was not able to say most of the sounds of English (at that time, the only sound Charlie said was “duh”). Just learning those few signs seemed to give Charlie a kind of confidence and peace and he slowly moved on to saying sounds and learning to link those to specific objects and things he wanted, like being carried.
And the experience taught me that, when it comes to communicating, there’s more than one way to do it (our then ABA consultant was against teaching Charlie sign language)—that words don’t say it all. Charlie talks in short sentences and phrases now; I still rely on his non-verbal sounds (like his warbling and humming and on his singing to communicate and “converse,” and to get a sense of how Charlie is feeling. Perhaps there’s more to being “bird brained” than ’tis thought.
Tags: Animals, asd, asperger, autism, birds, brain, Language, Music, neurobiology, Neuroscience, Parenting, pdd-nos, songRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Animals, Language, Music, Neuroscience
11 opinions for Birdsong and Vocal Learning: Not Just for the Birds
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Mar 17, 2008 at 3:53 am
[…] sign language, crocheting/knitting, and baking food other than desserts. I want to (0 clicks) Birdsong and Vocal Learning: Not Just for the BirdsNeurobiologists from Duke University have found t… Time to Finally let your Light Shine!A while ago, I wrote about how it was time to let our light […]
Translating Autism
Mar 17, 2008 at 9:34 am
Very interesting take on a common phenomenon. My previous understanding was that this was related to the slow maturation of vocal control. So children’s language centers develop faster than their vocal control, which allow them to use sign language to communicate. When this was first discover ed, I remember how many parents rushed to teach their 6-10 month old babies sign language and were amazed to see how well it worked. Unfortunately that also lead to a delay in the emergence of spoken language, likely due to the reliance on sign language by both parents and toddlers. So, as most things in life, it seems a balance probably leads to the best outcome. Sign language provides early means of communication that set the foundation for the emergence of spoken language. But the questions is, when and how to best facilitate that transition?
Cheers, Nestor.
Emily
Mar 17, 2008 at 9:51 am
We got through to the baby with signs. It was his first real communication with us at age 17 months, after I’d been working on “more” with him since he was about four months. He had no words, but that signing of “more” was a major breakthrough for him. He uses it for everything, though, but since he figured out that using that sign is communication, and with his 2.5 hours of speech therapy weekly now for 6 weeks, he’s got a few words at age 19 months: Down. Outside. Shoe. Still does not call any of us any names, but we’re really excited about his progress. I feel like we’ve pulled him back from the brink of something with our better awareness of where these things can go and our move to effective therapy.
I have friends who work in birdsong, and interestingly enough, one of them has an interest in using birdsong to explore correlates of and factors influencing autism.
bev
Mar 17, 2008 at 11:00 am
As a longtime user of chirping and trilling, I found this fascinating. Squawkers McCaw was happy to hear about it, too.
daedalus2u
Mar 17, 2008 at 11:13 am
Every form of communication is essentially a motor activity, subtle movements of the face and body for body language, movement of the vocal cords for speach, movement of hands for signing, movement of fingers for typing or writing.
Regan
Mar 17, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Nestor,
But about the work in Total Communication (sign+speech) for those with speech delays–much of the research I have shows that it has a facilitating effect on speech development?
This is just a comment, not a criticism, but one of the first things that I was taught in using sign as AAC is one has to be care of overgeneralizable signs such as “more” and to focus on distinct signs for separate high preference items. The caveat would also apply in initial speech training.
We initially used a PECS system with Eleanor for the communicative function (which was a very powerful thing for her, since both speech and language are her greatest difficulties), but it took YEARS of daily intensive language training and several modifications of approach on that to obtain speech. A large portion her program was motor fluency practice because she had significant motor dysfluencies (one of the reasons sign or modified sign was not our first choice). It’s anecdotal but based on observation, I believe that the motor practice was a positive contributor. In any event, hearing her voice was a genuine joy, and she seems to be pleased as well.
Regan
Mar 17, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Sorry for the sloppy grammar and spelling. Time for coffee.
Translating Autism
Mar 17, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Hi Regan, It makes sense that the Total Communication would work, especially for children with speech delays. I’m not familiar enough with the research, but I recall some early research with typically developing children who experienced a delay in speech production after learning to communicate well via sign language. But I’m sure the research is much more specific than I characterized, with SL likely being effective in specific situations and a possible detriment if not used correctly in other situations. I’m sure a good speech pathologist would be invaluable in helping design the method that best works for each child. Congrats that it worked well for Eleanor. I could not imagine the feeling you got after hearing her voice. Cheers, Nestor.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Mar 17, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Something about signing and getting more of the body involved—Charlie had to learn to imitate in order to talk and when he was younger, he had limited ability to imitate oral motor movements. First he learned to imitate with gross motors moves (waving, touching his head, etc.)—-as he has learned to talk more, his ability to imitate has increased (plus he now imitates sounds and actions spontaneously; he did not before).
MomtoJBG
Mar 17, 2008 at 9:41 pm
My sons have an easier time imitating speech (individual words) than imitating gross motor moves. I don’t understand it, and it has the ABA therapists flummoxed. They can both say multi-syllable words, but can not imitate stomping feet, waving, clapping, touching a body part, etc.
I don’t understand this, but I think it’ll sort itself out with time.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Mar 17, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Very interesting—just wondering: Do they look closely at the therapists’ mouths and lips when they are imitating words? Perhaps they are imitating the sounds more than the movements?
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