Young songbirds babble before they learn to sing
Thursday, May 1, 2008 - 14:14
in Psychology & Sociology
Young songbirds babble before they can mimic an adult`s song, much like their human counterparts. Now, in work that offers insights into how birds—and perhaps people—learn new behaviors, MIT scientists have found that immature and adult birdsongs are driven by two separate brain pathways, rather than one pathway that slowly matures. The work is reported in the May 2 issue of Science.