The Neuroscience of Speech, Language & Music | Dr. Erich Jarvis

**Andrew D. Huberman** (0:00)
Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, my guest is Dr. Erich Jarvis. Dr. Jarvis is a professor at the Rockefeller University in New York City, and his laboratory studies the neurobiology of vocal learning, language, speech disorders, and remarkably, the relationship between language, music, and movement, in particular, dance. His work spans from genomics, so the very genes that make up our genome and the genomes of other species that speak and have language, such as songbirds and parrots, all the way up to neural circuits, that is the connections in the brain and body that govern our ability to learn and generate specific sounds and movements coordinated with those sounds, including hand movements, and all the way up to cognition, that is our ability to think in specific ways based on what we are saying and the way that we comprehend what other people are saying, singing and doing. As you'll soon see, I was immediately transfixed and absolutely enchanted by Dr. Jarvis' description of his work and the ways that it impacts all the various aspects of our lives. For instance, I learned from Dr. Jarvis that as we read, we are generating very low levels of motor activity in our throat. That is, we are speaking the words that we are reading at a level below the perception of sound or our own perception of those words. But if one were to put an amplifier or to measure the firing of those muscles in our vocal cords, we'd find that as we're reading information, we are actually speaking that information. And as I learn and you'll soon learn, there's a direct link between those species in the world that have song and movement, which many of us would associate with dance, and our ability to learn and generate complex language. So for people with speech disorders like stutter, or for people who are interested in multiple language learning, bilingual, trilingual, et cetera, and frankly, for anyone who is interested in how we communicate through words written or spoken, I'm certain today's episode is going to be an especially interesting and important one for you. Dr. Jarvis' work is so pioneering that he has been awarded truly countless awards. I'm not going to take our time to list off all the various important awards that he's received, but I should point out that in addition to being a decorated professor at the Rockefeller University, he is also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the so-called HHMI. And for those of you that don't know, HHMI investigators are selected on an extremely competitive basis that they have to re-up, that is they have to re-compete every five years. They actually receive a grade every five years that dictates whether or not they are no longer a Howard Hughes investigator or whether or not they can advance to another five years of funding for their important research. And indeed Howard Hughes investigators are selected, not just for the rigor of their work, but for their pioneering spirit and their ability to take on high-risk, high-benefit work, which is exactly the kind of work that Dr. Jarvis has been providing for decades now. Again, I think today's episode is one of the more unique and special episodes that we've had on the Huberman Lab podcast. I single it out because it really spans from the basic to the applied. And Dr. Jarvis' story is an especially unique one in terms of how he arrived at becoming a neurobiologist. So for those of you that are interested in personal journey and personal story, Dr. Jarvis is truly a special and important one. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost and consumer information about science and science related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Element. Element is an electrolyte drink with everything you need and nothing you don't. That means plenty of salt, magnesium and potassium, the so-called electrolytes, and no sugar. Now, salt, magnesium and potassium are critical to the function of all the cells in your body, in particular to the function of your nerve cells, also called neurons. In fact, in order for your neurons to function properly, all three electrolytes need to be present in the proper ratios. And we now know that even slight reductions in electrolyte concentrations or dehydration of the body can lead to deficits in cognitive and physical performance. Element contains a science-backed electrolyte ratio of 1,000 milligrams, that's one gram of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium and 60 milligrams of magnesium. I typically drink Element first thing in the morning when I wake up in order to hydrate my body and make sure I have enough electrolytes. And while I do any kind of physical training and after physical training as well, especially if I've been sweating a lot, if you'd like to try Element, you can go to drinkelement. That's lmnt.com/huberman to claim a free Element sample pack with your purchase. Again, that's drinklmnt.com/huberman. Today's episode is also brought to us by Thesis. Thesis makes what are called Neutropics, which means smart drugs. Now, to be honest, I am not a fan of the term Neutropics. I don't believe in smart drugs in the sense that I don't believe that there's any one substance or collection of substances that can make us smarter. I do believe based on science, however, that there are particular neural circuits and brain functions that allow us to be more focused, more alert, access creativity, be more motivated, et cetera. That's just the way that the brain works, different neural circuits for different brain states. Thesis understands this. And as far as I know, they're the first Neutropics company to create targeted Neutropics for specific outcomes. I've been using Thesis for more than six months now, and I can confidently say that their Neutropics have been a total game changer. My go-to formula is the Clarity formula, or sometimes I'll use their Energy formula before training. To get your own personalized Neutropics starter kit, go online to takethesis.com/huberman, take a three-minute quiz, and Thesis will send you four different formulas to try in your first month. That's takethesis.com/huberman, and use the code Huberman at checkout for 10% off your first order. And now for my discussion with Dr. Erich Jarvis. Erich, so great to have you here.