March 31, 2004

Birds Share 'Language' Gene with Humans

The process by which baby birds learn to sing shares a number of traits with
that by which toddlers learn to talk. Now researchers have identified a
common gene between birds and people that underlies both abilities. The
discovery marks the start of an effort to explore the genetic underpinnings
of vocal learning.

Vocal learning is characteristic of a number of animals, including humans,
dolphins, whales and birds. To probe how genetics guides this process,
Sebastian Haesler of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in
Berlin and Kazuhiro Wada of Duke University Medical Center and their
colleagues focused on a gene known as FoxP2, mutatation of which is
associated with language problems in people. "In affected humans, the
mutation causes a very specific dysfunction," study co-author Erich Jarvis
of Duke University explains. "These people have largely normal motor
coordination, but an inability to correctly pronounce words or form them
into grammatically correct sentences. What's more, they have trouble
understanding complex language." The team analyzed expression of FoxP2 in a
number of bird species, both vocal learners and nonlearners, and in
crocodiles, the closest living relative of birds.

Read the rest at Scientific American
http://cl.extm.us/?fe9c12717164017f74-fe3016707360067c711779

Comment:
I'm just reading The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of
Grey Parrots by Irene Maxine Pepperberg.  It reads like a long paper with
plenty of references embedded in the text, careful description of the goals
of each experiment/training strategy and comparisons with previous attempts
by other researchers, and sample tables of results with discussion on the
interpretation of those results.

What struck me in the early pages as Irene described the differences between
Parrot and chimp, or between birds and mammals generally, was that
communication is different for a reason that seems obvious to me but wasn't
mentioned.

Parrots have unexpressive faces and few gestures generally, especially when
compared to, say, a chimp which is one of the most emotionally expressive
animals there is.  Chimps also express their emotion in full view of other
chimps.  The voice is a support for their communication, but only one tool
in their toolbox.  Gesture and facial expression form the bulk of their
communication.

Birds, on the other hand, communicate with unseen other birds and so are
totally reliant on vocal communication.  Any emotion or information to be
conveyed must be modulated onto their voice.

Humans started out much as the chimp, mixing vocal, gestural and facial
expressions for their communication.  But as we took to writing we became
more dependant on words.  In modern times we communicate with unseen others
and must modulate our entire expression onto those words.

Thus Pepperberg's observation that Parrots seem to communicate or are
capable of communicating in a more human-like manner than chimps may be an
observation of cultural evolution over the past few thousand years rather
than any innate similarity.  It seems that humans are capable of
communicating in either form: direct communication including visual and
auditory cues or via single informational channels only eg via words.

Kind Regards,
Robert Karl Stonjek.
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