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22/09/2010Learning from the birds

Learning from the birds The way in which birds learn to sing shows striking similarities to the way in which human babies learn language, say researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. The bird brain can therefore serve as a model for research into the workings of human memory.

Research into birdsong is more than just a quaint scientific hobby. Discovering how a bird’s memory grasps the intricacies of birdsong enables us to increase our store of knowledge about language and the human brain. And such knowledge is vital if we are ever to succeed in combating diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
 
Previous research had already established that young zebra finches use the same parts of their brain to learn birdsong from their parent as human babies do when learning to talk. The bonds between humans and birds are therefore closer than you might think. But now even more similarities have emerged.
 
Taking a nap
For instance, researcher Johan Bolhuis has happened upon the importance of sleep for the learning capacity of both humans and finches:
 
"Our latest discovery is that sleep plays a very important part in the finch’s song. This too is comparable to humans. We have known for some time that sleep is important to human learning and it has recently been shown that young children are better at learning language if they have the chance to take a nap in between."
 

Photo Wikimedia Commons
Scarlet Robin

Johan Bolhuis therefore reckons it’s a good idea to get enough sleep before you sit an exam. And finches too need sleep to bring out their best.

Starting young
Another similarity between humans and birds when it comes to learning to speak and sing is the way that youngsters imitate the sounds of their parents. Learning improves if you start young: young birds and young babies soak up speech and song like a sponge. And both need a lot of practice: babies babble away constantly, while young chicks tweet away without any recognisable structure to the sounds they make.
 
Johan Bolhuis reached his conclusions after many hours of listening to the songs of young zebra finches. The difference between good and bad learners is clear.
 
John Bolhuis is the first to admit that this research comes across as a little bizarre. He is also aware that, in its present stage, it can be described as very fundamental science without an obvious practical application. But he insists there is more to it than meets the eye:
 
"If you want to combat Alzheimer’s disease for example, you will see that the first symptom human sufferers show is memory loss. In order to solve this, you will have to carry out fundamental research into how memory works. Exactly how is information processed? And how is that information stored?"
 
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Zebra finch

He concludes that the way in which language is learned is of fundamental importance to this area of discovery. And as he has shown, the parallels with birdsong are greater than we could ever have imagined.

Thijs Westerbeek van Eerten
Radio Netherlands

 


1 reaction to this article

Steve posted: 2010-10-07 13:24:48

Not much content there.. so depriving finches of sleep reduced their birdsong learning ability?
What other findings were there?

Add a comment

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1 reaction to this article

Steve posted: 2010-10-07 13:24:48

Not much content there.. so depriving finches of sleep reduced their birdsong learning ability?
What other findings were there?

Add a comment
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