Bird Song Can Explain The Evolution Of Human Language

 

Image courtesy of Sławomir Staszczuk, CC BY-SA 3.0. 

Joel Kontinen

Language is one of the most notable abilities humans have. It allows us to express complex meanings and transmit knowledge from generation to generation. An important question in human biology is how this ability ended up being developed. in the evolutionary way.  

 In the study, the authors show how the activity of glutamate tends to promote the release of dopamine in the striatum, an evolutionary old brain structure important for reward-based learning and motor output. “In adult songbirds, the increase in dopamine release in this striatal area is correlated with the learning of a more restricted song, which replaces experimental vocalizations typical of young birds”. “Regarding human beings and other mammals” —–the authors add—, “dopamine release in the dorsal striatum promotes restrictive and repetitive motor outputs, such as vocalizations, while other more experimental and exploratory behaviours are supported by the dopaminergic activity of the ventral striatum”.

According to the study, many of the glutamatergic signalling genes that have changed in recent human evolution code for receptors that reduce the excitation of the dorsal striatum. Meanwhile, these receptors tend not to reduce activity, and even promote, the dopamine release, in ventral striatal regions.

 This is just another example of evolutionary storytelling. Birds are birds and humans are humans.

 Source:  

 University of Barcelona. 2021,"What does the study of domesticated birds tell us about the evolution of human language? Looking for keys of the human language evolution in bird singing.. Science Daily, 19 April. .