Apr 28, 2020 08:00:00

The 'origin of language' of humankind may be traced back over 25 million years ago

Since the neural circuit related to language that was found only in humans and

apes was discovered in monkeys, the origin of human language can be traced back to '25 million years ago from the present age', which goes back 20 million years from the conventional theory. The possibility was suggested by a research team at the University of Newcastle .

Primate auditory prototype in the evolution of the arcuate fasciculus | Nature Neuroscience
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-020-0623-9/metrics

Scientists make a spectacular discovery about the origin of language in the brain
https://www.inverse.com/science/human-language-pathway-at-least-25-million-years-old

Controversial Discovery Says Origins of Human Language Existed 25 Million Years Ago
https://www.sciencealert.com/controversial-discovery-in-monkeys-pushes-the-origin-of-human-language-back-25-million-years

Compared to other animals, the human brain is specifically adapted to verbal communication. However, it is not clear how the abilities of 'listening to each other while speaking and communicating with each other' were acquired during the evolution process.

by

Ray in Manila

Generally apes the brain chimpanzee classified as (ape), have revealed that there are languages circuit as similar to the human, prefrontal cortex and the temporal lobe spans arcuate fasciculus It is said that the neural pathway called is greatly involved in language.

The bundle of colored nerve fibers in the figure below is the arcuate bundle.

Since the equivalent of a language circuit was not found in the brain of a monkey that does not contain an ape, 'whether a monkey has the language ability like a human or an ape' is controversial, and humans The theory that the language ability was acquired after the evolution to the ape was also firmly advocated. On the other hand, although it is not able to process information as complexly as humans, it is known that Japanese macaques enable vocal communication to communicate information about food, identity, and danger.

A research team led by Professor Chris Petkov, a comparative neuropsychologist at the University of Newcastle, thinks that 'the language circuit is not found in the monkey's brain because it is in the wrong area of the brain to look for' humans / apes Compare data from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of monkey brains. As a result, they report that a neural circuit corresponding to the arcuate bundles of humans and apes was found in the auditory cortex of the monkey brain.

The research team points out that the arcuate bundles in the auditory cortex of monkeys may be a prototype of the language circuit of apes and humans. According to previous studies, it is said that apes evolved from monkeys about 25 million years ago, and humans evolved from apes about 5 million years ago. Since the neural circuit related to language was found in monkeys, it is possible that the origin of human language was not that of the ape 5 million years ago, but when it was a monkey more than 25 million years ago.

'I was amazed at how the monkey auditory system hides human-like language circuits in the auditory system. It's like finding a new fossil of an ancestor that has long been missing,' he said. . In addition, it is possible that even patients with impaired verbal ability due to stroke or contusion can aim to recover verbal ability not only by prefrontal cortex and temporal lobe but also by expanding their visual field to the auditory cortex. Also showed.

However, Professor Petkov himself acknowledges that it is 'very controversial' and says that it will be important to continue to analyze the monkey and human missing links by analyzing the monkey brain in the future. .