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

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, my guest is Dr. Eddie Chang, MD, a neurosurgeon and Chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). We discuss the neural circuits underlying speech and language, including how the brain controls the larynx, vocal folds and articulators to shape breath into words. We also explore his pioneering work on speech neural prosthetics — brain-machine interfaces that allow paralyzed patients to communicate by decoding neural activity into speech and avatar-driven facial expressions. Additionally, we examine the neurobiology of stuttering, the role of auditory feedback in fluent speech, and the broader ethical questions surrounding brain augmentation technologies.

Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) Speech & Language

(00:00:23) Speech vs Language, Pragmatics, Semantics & Syntax

(00:03:11) Larynx, Vocal Folds & Shaping the Breath

(00:05:35) Crying & Laughter, Vocalizations vs Speech

(00:06:37) Sponsor: Function

(00:08:52) Paralysis, Brainstem Stroke, ALS & Locked-In Syndrome

(00:10:52) BRAVO Trial, Pancho & First Patient

(00:12:31) Brain Surgery, Electrode Array & Decoding Speech

(00:14:34) AI, 50-Word Vocabulary & Autocorrect

(00:16:06) Sponsor: BetterHelp

(00:17:30) Neuralink, Brain-Machine Interfaces & Augmentation Ethics

(00:22:21) Avatars, Facial Expressions & Non-Verbal Communication

(00:25:48) Sponsor: AG1

(00:27:12) Stuttering, Anxiety & Speech vs Language

(00:30:18) Tool: Stuttering Therapy & Auditory Feedback

(00:31:50) Recap & Acknowledgments

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