NewsNeuroscienceParrots and humans share a brain mechanism for speechBudgerigars language centers use a "vocal keyboard" thats surprisingly humanlike Specific nerve cells in budgerigars brains allow the parrots to combine different elements of sounds, a new study shows.Christopher Auger-DominguezBy Laura Sanders1 hour agoWhen it comes to speech, parrots have the gift of gab. And the way the brains of small parrots known as budgerigars bestow this gift is remarkably similar to human speech, researchers report March 19 in Nature.So far, budgerigars are the only animals known to have language-producing centers akin to those in humans, says Michael Long, a neuroscientist at New York University Langone Health. This is really the first nonhuman animal in which that has been shown. Understanding how speech gets created in budgies brains could help clarify what goes wrong in certain communication disorders in people.