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Published on: November 26, 2012
Physical mechanisms may be as important as brain mechanisms in evolution of speech
Bart de Boer1, Marcus Perlman2
1Artificial Intelligence Lab,Vrije Universiteit Brussel,1050 Brussels,Belgium.bart@ai.vub.ac.behttp://ai.vub.ac.be/members/bart.
Abstract:
We present two arguments why physical adaptations for vocalization may be as important as neural adaptations. First, fine control over vocalization is not easy for physical reasons, and modern humans may be exceptional. Second, we present an example of a gorilla that shows rudimentary voluntary control over vocalization, indicating that some neural control is already shared with great apes.
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