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Evolution, brain, and the nature of language.
Robert C Berwick1, Angela D Friederici, Noam Chomsky
1Department of Electrical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|January 15, 2013
Summary
Human language evolution is explained by a unique, innate computational ability shared by all humans. This species-specific trait, fixed since language
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Evolutionary Biology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- The evolutionary origins of human language remain a significant scientific puzzle.
- Understanding language evolution requires explaining both its universal features and diversity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the evolutionary basis of human language.
- To identify the core cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying language.
- To determine if language is a unique human trait.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of human language abilities with other species.
- Examination of the neural correlates of language.
- Evolutionary developmental biology approaches.
Main Results:
- Human language unifies through a shared, species-specific computational ability.
- This ability has identifiable neural correlates and has been conserved since language's origin ~100,000 years ago.
- While songbirds exhibit vocal learning with similar neural organization, language remains uniquely human.
Conclusions:
- A fixed, innate computational capacity underpins the universal nature of human language.
- Language evolution is characterized by a unique human specialization.
- The study provides insights into the biological foundations of human language.
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