New York Times
January 7 2003
CONVERSATION WITH | ERICH JARVIS
A Biologist Explores the Minds of Birds That Learn to Sing
By CLAUDIA DREIFUS
DURHAM, N.C. - At Duke University here, Dr. Erich D. Jarvis, 37, is recogni=
zed
for his groundbreaking research on the brain systems of birds. This year, h=
e
won the Alan T. Waterman Award, the National Science Foundation's $500,000
prize for young researchers.
Dr. Jarvis's own life story is also widely known. He grew up in Harlem in a
family riven by poverty and divorce. His father, a musician and amateur
scientist, eventually succumbed to drugs, mental illness and homelessness a=
nd
was killed in 1989.
Still, Erich Jarvis graduated from Hunter College and went on to the
Rockefeller University, where he earned his doctorate in 1995.
At Duke, he said in a recent interview, he found a place with "the best
facilities and the least politics" in an effort to do his research unimpede=
d.
"This place has an atmosphere that's a researcher's dream."
Q. You study the brain pathways of hummingbirds, songbirds and parrots - th=
ree
very different types of birds that are song learners, as opposed to innate
vocalizers. Why study them?
A. These birds are among the few vocal-learning animal groups. By measuring=
a
certain gene that is activated in their brains when they are producing thei=
r
learned vocalizations, my colleague Claudio Mello of the Oregon Health and
Sciences University and I have established that hummingbirds, parrots and
songbirds each, separately, evolved similar brain pathways for the producti=
on
of learned songs. None of these creatures are closely related to one anothe=
r.
These pathways are not found in more closely related birds that do not lear=
n
vocalizations.
Our findings indicate that brain pathways for a complex behavior can evolve=
in
very similar ways, multiple times. There's the possibility that human langu=
age
brain pathways have also evolved in ways similar to these birds.
Full text
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/07/science/life/07CONV.html
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