A new study has revealed that the mental capacity structures which enable humans to recognize language are in fact share with certain primates . While this does n’t have in mind we ’re all going to be capable to talk to animals like Dr. Dolittle , it does shed sparkle on the evolutionary origins of our linguistic prowess .
Publishing their findings in the journalNature Communications , a team of researchers from Newcastle University used functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI ) to analyse the neurological activities of rhesus monkey macaque when presented with ordered sequences of auditory sensation . They learn that the same regions of the brain associated with linguistic operations in human became active when the monkeys litigate these sequences .
To convey the experiment , the researcher invented an hokey grammar – or bastard nomenclature – that check rules and patterns unsubdivided enough for the macaque to learn . The monkeys then mind to a number of sequence , some of which adhered to these rule while others spoil them . Scans of their head were then take as they process both the “ legal ” and “ illegal ” phrases , for mold which psyche regions were involved in find sequence ordering rape .
The epicentre of this bodily function was discover to be theventral frontal and opercular cortex(vFOC ) , the same sphere of the brain associated with syntactic order and processing in human being . This was confirmed by subjecting a sample of 12 human field to the same tests , which showed activation patterns within the vFOC were exchangeable in both exam subject when assault in the ordering of the artificial grammar were lay out .
Data obtained from the subject ramp up upon old work which had evoke that the ability to recognize spoken communication sequence may not be unparalleled to humans . For instance , astudypublished earlier this year by the same authors study the eye movement of macaques while process an hokey grammar , indicating that they may be sensitive to violations of lingual principle .
However , the latest study is the first to indicate that this process is controlled by the same brain regions in both humans and macaques , suggest that sequence processing functions are in fact “ evolutionary conserved . ” The authors therefore propose that the vFOC may have originally evolved in a unwashed ascendent to support these fussy abilities .
apart from revealing newfangled information about the evolutionary development of our language - processing capableness , the researchers hope that the study could have succeeding implication for treating condition such asaphasia , which often pass after stroke and involves the loss of linguistic functionality .
