Dr. Erich Jarvis

In order to vibrate sound and modulate sound in the way we do,

you have to move those muscles three to four to five times faster than just regular walking or running.

And so when you stick electrodes in the brain areas that control laryn vocalizations in these birds, and I think in humans as well, those neurons are firing at a higher rate to control these muscles.

And so what is that going to do?

You're going to have lots of toxicity in those neurons unless you upregulate molecules that take out the extra load that is needed to control the larynx.

And then finally, a third set of genes that are

specialize in the speech circuit are involved in neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity meaning allowing the brain circuits to be more flexible so you can learn better.

And why is that?

I think learning how to produce speech is a more complex learning ability than say learning how to walk or learning how to do tricks and jumps and so forth that dogs do.

Actually, the entire brain is undergoing a critical period development, not just the speech pathways.

And so it's easier to learn how to play a piano.

It's easier to learn how to ride a bike for the first time and so forth as a young child than it is later in life.

The brain can only hold so much information.

And if you are undergoing rapid learning to acquire new knowledge, you also have to put memory or information in the trash, like in a computer.

You only have so many gigabases of memory.

Plus, also for survival, you don't want to keep forgetting things.

And so the brain is designed, I believe, to undergo this critical period and solidify the circuits with what you learned as a child and you use that for the rest of your life.

And now the question you asked about if you learn more languages as a child, is it easier to learn as an adult?

And that's a common finding out there in the literature.