Smotherman

Texas A&M researcher Michael Smotherman is trying to understand how Mexican Freetail bats organize syllables into songs and how their communication is linked to the brain.

Researchers Study How Singing Bats Communicate | Impact Lab 2007

The researchers in Smotherman’s lab are studying two aspects of bat communication.

Researchers Study How Singing Bats Communicate | Impact Lab 2007

Two days later, defensive tackle Adam Smotherman, a two-year starter, ripped an ACL in his knee and probably will miss time during the upcoming season.

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Smotherman and his team maintain about 75 bats in their lab.

Researchers Study How Singing Bats Communicate | Impact Lab 2007

“The fact that human speech is so unique has really constrained research in this area,” Smotherman says.

Researchers Study How Singing Bats Communicate | Impact Lab 2007

“If we can identify those areas in a bat brain [responsible for communication], we can learn more about how a normal [human] brain generates and orchestrates complex communication sequences,” Smotherman says.

Researchers Study How Singing Bats Communicate | Impact Lab 2007

Smotherman hopes that over the next decade, the group can apply its research to knowledge of human speech and help shed light on language disorders.

Researchers Study How Singing Bats Communicate | Impact Lab 2007

Smotherman says Mexican Freetail bats use between 15 and 20 syllables to create calls.

Researchers Study How Singing Bats Communicate | Impact Lab 2007

Scientists have understood the link between bird songs and the bird brain for years, but “the architecture of a bird brain is very different from that of a mammal brain,” Smotherman explains, “so it is difficult to apply knowledge about bird communication to human speech.”

Researchers Study How Singing Bats Communicate | Impact Lab 2007

“No other mammals besides humans are able to use such complex vocal sequences to communicate,” Smotherman says.

Researchers Study How Singing Bats Communicate | Impact Lab 2007