Year: 2022

RECENT ADVANCES. “In the last decade a new synthesis of modern linguistics, cognitive neuroscience and neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory has begun to make important contributions to our understanding of the biology and evolution of language.” https://lnkd.in/dTkGwcGB View in LinkedIn

EXAPTATION OF CIRCUITS. “Even if language evolved to use circuits not originally linguistic in function, these hijacked circuits would likely also represent modifications of nonhuman-specific circuitry. Thus, studying brain and behavior in nonhuman primates is actually central to understanding human language evolution.” https://lnkd.in/dvz_XvBp View in LinkedIn

MULTIFUNCTIONAL. “Language processing does not appear to be highly compartmentalized into unique circuits independent of those serving other behavioral functions but instead depends heavily on the integration of a large number of abilities that are processed in widely dispersed circuits across the brain.” https://lnkd.in/dvz_XvBp View in LinkedIn

STRUCTURAL PRECURSORS. “Homologues to both Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas have been identified in nonhuman primate brains. Exactly what function they play in other species is not currently known, but an evolutionary perspective would predict that they likely process information in ways that would be useful to language.” https://lnkd.in/dvz_XvBp View in LinkedIn

DIVINATION 450 BC. “Monstrous omens appear four times in Herodotus: a concubine of the king of Sardis gives birth to a lion (1.84), a donkey is born with male and female genitalia (7.57), a horse gives birth to a hare (7.57) and fish come back to life whilst being cooked (9.120).” https://lnkd.in/dKzNaDGj View in LinkedIn

A genius we are still just starting to appreciate, MC Escher. Modern physics and some of his studies of infinity are converging very closely. View in LinkedIn

INTERWOVEN FUNCTIONALITY. “Teasing out the relative contributions of these various behavioral domains (including language) to prefrontal elaboration during evolution will likely be very difficult, in part because they almost surely all contributed as part of a complex adaptive system involving many aspects of human behavior.” https://lnkd.in/dvz_XvBp View in LinkedIn

THE DESCENDING LARYNX. “A key factor in human speech production is our unusual vocal tract: we have a descended larynx, hyoid and tongue root which enable us to produce a greater diversity of formant frequencies patterns, and thus of speech sounds, than would be possible otherwise.” https://lnkd.in/dTkGwcGB View in LinkedIn

ERRONEOUS PRESUMPTION. “Such a descended larynx was believed until recently to be uniquely human, and thus has been emphasized in many accounts of language evolution. New comparative data call this emphasis into question.” https://lnkd.in/dTkGwcGB View in LinkedIn

HOMOLOGY VS ANALOGY. “These new data tell a cautionary tale: we must beware of considering any human trait unique without a thorough search among animals. More importantly they show the value of both homology and analogy in understanding the human capacity for speech.” https://lnkd.in/dTkGwcGB View in LinkedIn