The Science of Learning & Speaking Languages | Dr. Eddie Chang

**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. Eddie Chang. Dr. Eddie Chang is the chair of the neurosurgery department at the University of California at San Francisco. Dr. Chang's clinical group focuses on the treatment of movement disorders, including epilepsy. He is also a world expert in the treatment of speech disorders and relieving paralysis that prevents speech and other forms of movement and communication. Indeed, his laboratory is credited with discovering ways to allow people who have fully locked in syndrome, that is, who cannot speak or move, to communicate through computers and AI devices in order to be able to speak to others in their world and understand what others are saying to them. It is a truly remarkable achievement that we discussed today, in addition to his discoveries about critical periods, which are periods of time during one's life when one can learn things in particular languages with great ease as opposed to later in life. And we talk about the basis of things like bilingualism and trilingualism. We talk about how the brain controls movement of the very muscles that allow for speech and language and how those can be modified over time. We also talk about stutter, and we talk about a number of aspects of speech and language that give insight into not just how we create this incredible thing called speech or how we understand speech and language, but how the brain works more generally. Dr. Chang is also one of the world leaders in bioengineering. That is the creation of devices that allow the brain to function at superphysiological levels and that can allow people with various syndromes and disorders to overcome their deficits. So if you are somebody who is interested in how the brain works normally, how it breaks down and how it can be repaired, and if you are interested in speech and language, reading and comprehension of information of any kind, today's episode ought to include some information of deep interest to you. Dr. Chang is indeed the top of his field in terms of understanding these issues of how the brain encodes speech and language and creates speech and language. And as I mentioned, movement disorders and epilepsy. We even talk about things such as the ketogenic diet, the future of companies like Neural Link, which are interested in bioengineering and augmenting the human brain and much more. One thing that I would like to note is that in addition to being a world-class neuroscience researcher and world-class clinician, neurosurgeon and chair of neurosurgery, Dr. Eddie Chang has also been a close personal friend of mine since we were nine years old. We attended elementary school together and we actually had a science club when we were nine years old, focused on a very particular topic. You'll have to listen in to today's episode to discover what that topic was and what membership to that club required. That aside, Dr. Chang is an absolute phenom with respect to his scientific prowess, that is both his research and his clinical abilities. And he's one of these rare individuals that whenever he opens his mouth, we learn. 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 to 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 back to electrolyte ratio of 1000 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 Drink Element, 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 nootropics, which means smart drugs. Now, to be honest, I am not a fan of the term nootropics. 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 nootropics company to create targeted nootropics for specific outcomes. I've been using Thesis for more than six months now, and I can confidently say that their nootropics 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 nootropic 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. Eddie Chang. Eddie, welcome.