Singing mice provide a good model for the study of how the brain achieves conversation.
NYU School of Medicine
The results of a published in the journal Science argue that a specific brain circuit is behind the high-speed back and forth that makes conversation possible.
Males of the study species, Alston鈥檚 singing mouse (Scotinomys teguina), generate songs as they challenge competitors by taking turns singing, alternating similarly to humans talking, and at the same speed.
The lead author of that study, , associate professor in 嘿嘿视频鈥檚 Departments of and , says 鈥渙ur work launches a new field by employing a new mammalian model to examine brain mechanisms behind the sub-second precision of vocal turn-taking.鈥
鈥淲e need to understand how our brains generate verbal replies instantly using nearly a hundred muscles if we are to design new treatments for the millions of Americans for whom this process has failed, in some cases because of diseases or traumatic events,鈥 adds Dr. Long.
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