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

0:00Welcome to Huberman Lab Essentials, where we revisit past episodes for the most potent and actionable science-based tools for mental health, physical health, and performance.

0:11I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.

0:17And now for my discussion with Dr.

0:19Eddie Chang.

0:20Eddie, welcome.

0:21Hi.

0:21Hi, Andrew.

0:22Great to be here with you.

0:24Your main focus these days is the neurobiology of speech and language.

0:29So for those that aren't familiar, could you please distinguish for us speech versus language in terms of whether or not different brain areas control them?

0:37When I think about language, I think about words and just talking.

0:40If I sit down to do a long podcast or I think about asking a question, I don't even think about the words I want to say very much.

0:47I mean, I have to think about them a little bit, one would hope.

0:49But I don't think about individual syllables unless I'm trying to accent something or it's a word that I have a particular difficulty saying or I want to change the cadence, et cetera.