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 I've been thinking about the subject of internal calibration processes and how birds have a genetic template for the songs that their species sing. A bird song is a type of reafferent loop where the bird needs to try out the song multiple times before it is able to perfect it. This is the same for human talking and other output patterns. 

How does this relate to other pattern generators? When a piano prodigy sits down to play, they don't have to practice a piece they have heard before they can just play it. Is there something special about their learning process that they don't have to make a loop out of it, rather they can just get it on the first try? 

Another point to bring up: I wanted to to clarify a question I had on the difference between neurotransmitters and hormones. Since both are chemical signals that are released in the brain and trigger some sort of response, I wasn't sure why they were classified as different things. After talking to Professor Grobstein and reading a bit about them, I think I can see the difference. A lot of it actually has to do with how they were researched. While neurotransmitters were associated with the nervous system, hormones were researched by scientists examining the endocrine system. Also, neurotransmitters are normally associated with signals that stay relatively local in the brain while hormones are known to travel great distances throughout the body. Still, these differences seem slight to me. It's interesting to think that if these chemical substances had been studied together, more similarities would have been made between the two and they could possibly have been grouped together.