黑猩猩弧形囊的个体变异预测了声声和手势交流
Erin E Hecht1, Suhas Vijayakumar2,3, Yannick Becker4,5
1Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. erin_hecht@fas.harvard.edu.
Nature communications
|April 17, 2025
概括
黑猩猩的弧形囊,一个大脑管道,不像人类一样左侧化. 然而,它的个体变异与黑猩猩的语音和手势沟通有关,这表明它扮演着祖先的角色.
科学领域:
- 神经科学是一个神经科学.
- 进化生物学 进化生物学
- 灵长类动物学 灵长类动物学
背景情况:
- 人类语言的进化起源仍在争论中,一些理论侧重于语音或手势沟通.
- 弧形囊,一个关键的人类大脑通道,是左侧并对语言至关重要,但它在非人类猿的功能是不清楚的.
研究的目的:
- 调查弓状囊在黑猩猩沟通中的作用,检查其结构和与语音和手势使用的关系.
- 为了比较黑猩猩的弧形带横向化与人类的弧形带横向化,推断出祖先的沟通能力.
主要方法:
- 使用概率学曲谱分析了67只黑猩猩的弧形囊.
- 弧形的解剖学和不对称性的个体变化与观察到的沟通行为相关.
主要成果:
- 黑猩猩的弧形囊没有显示出人口水平的左侧化,与人类形成鲜明对比.
- 弧形带左向不对称的个体差异与黑猩猩的手势和声音交流的变化有关.
结论:
- 弧形囊很可能在黑猩猩和人类的最后一个共同祖先的声音和手势交流中发挥了作用.
- 这表明,复杂通信的神经基础早于人类语言的出现.
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