Erich Jarvis, PhD

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Professor, The Rockefeller University

Talk Title: Genetics of brain pathways for vocal learning and spoken language

Abstract:

Hosts: Drs. Tychele Turner and Ting Wang

Host Comments: Dr. Erich Jarvis is an internationally recognized neuroscientist and geneticist whose research addresses one of the most fascinating questions in modern biology: how genetic, molecular, and neural mechanisms give rise to the capacity for learned vocal communication. A Professor at The Rockefeller University and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Dr. Jarvis studies songbirds and other vocal-learning species to understand how the brain learns, produces, and modifies complex vocal behaviors. By integrating genetics, genomics, molecular biology, neurobiology, and behavior, his laboratory has identified genes, molecular pathways, and specialized neural circuits associated with vocal learning and has uncovered striking parallels between the biological mechanisms underlying birdsong and human speech. These discoveries have provided important insights into how spoken language may have evolved and how genetic variation can influence the development and function of neural circuits involved in speech and communication. Dr. Jarvis is also a prominent leader in comparative and evolutionary genomics. His work has helped redefine our understanding of avian evolution, including through large-scale genome sequencing efforts that have revealed relationships across major groups of birds and provided new perspectives on the independent evolution of vocal learning. He currently chairs the international Vertebrate Genomes Project, a global initiative working to generate high-quality reference genomes for vertebrate species and create foundational resources for studying genome evolution, biodiversity, and the genetic basis of species-specific traits. He has also contributed to efforts to build a more comprehensive human pangenome that better represents global human genetic diversity. Through this remarkable combination of genetics, genomics, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology, his research is expanding our understanding of how genomes shape brains, how brains generate complex behaviors, and how extraordinary traits such as learned vocal communication emerge across evolution.