Erich Jarvis (Duke/HHMI) Part 3: Genes specialized in vocal learning circuits

In Part 1, Jarvis explains that vocal learning is the ability to hear a sound and repeat it. Only 5 groups of mammals (including humans) and 3 groups of birds (parrots, hummingbirds and songbirds) are capable of vocal learning. Jarvis and his lab members imaged changes in gene expression in bird’s brains after singing. They found that hummingbirds, songbirds and parrots each have pathways in specific areas of the brain