Neural Structures In Birdsong And Human Language
This obviously involves the presence of specific neural structures specialized in the perception and production of the corresponding sounds, both in birdsong and human language.
In the avian brain, acoustic stimuli reach the High Vocal Centre (HVC) that controls muscle movements of the vocal organs through the motor centre and an important cluster of neurons located in the basal nuclei known as the X Area or song learning centre (Reiner et al. 2004). One of the birds’ brain most studied pathways goes right through the X Area and can be considered the equivalent of the human forebrain cortical-basal circuits, which are fundamental for learning, but not for execution. As demonstrated by Kubikova and colleagues (2007), in the avian brain there
In the avian brain, acoustic stimuli reach the High Vocal Centre (HVC) that controls muscle movements of the vocal organs through the motor centre and an important cluster of neurons located in the basal nuclei known as the X Area or song learning centre (Reiner et al. 2004). One of the birds’ brain most studied pathways goes right through the X Area and can be considered the equivalent of the human forebrain cortical-basal circuits, which are fundamental for learning, but not for execution. As demonstrated by Kubikova and colleagues (2007), in the avian brain there