Baby birds babble before they learn to speak properly, just like human babies. Intriguingly, according to a new study published this week in Science, a totally different part of the brain seems to be used in babbling than is used in proper, adult speech patterns.

When researchers at MIT disabled part of the brain used in learning called the LMAN (lateral magnocellular nucleus of the nidopallium) the young birds stopped babbling. However, young birds who had an area called the high vocal centre or HVC disabled continued to babble, despite the HVC being a key area for singing in adults

When the researchers shut down the HVC in adult birds, they stopped singing and reverted to babbling (press release).

“The main point of our finding is that the child-like behaviour of young animals may not be just because they have an immature form of the circuitry that makes adult behaviours, but because they have special circuits in the brain that purposefully drive their exploratory and random-looking behaviours,” says author Michale Fee (Daily Telegraph).

“I suspect that there is a similar process going on in the brain of the human infant as he learns how to speak and how to convey meaning.”

That experiment could be harder to get ethical approval for.

Audio clips and more news coverage below the fold…

Audio special

38 day old juvenile birds

Normal babbling Download file

Singing after inactivation of the high vocal center Download file

50-day-old juvenile bird

Normal song with first appearance of distinct syllables Download file

Singing produced after inactivating the HVC. Download file

Adult bird

Normal singing. Download file

Singing after inactivating the HVC. Download file

Other news coverage

Baby birds babble just like human babies learning to talk – AP

How do baby birdies learn to sing? By babbling – Reuters

Bird Brains Swap Regions for Baby Babbling, Adult Song – National Geographic

Image: Zebra finches / AAAS/Science