ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Environment → Animals

Humans are not unique in understanding the basics of language

A paper published recently in Nature Communications details how a team lead by Dr. Ben Wilson and Professor Chris Petkov used a brain imaging technique to identify the neuronal evolutionary origins of language. Their findings help us understand how we learn to speak, and could allow new treatments for those who lose this ability from aphasia after a stroke or dementia.

Alexandru MicubyAlexandru Micu
November 18, 2015 - Updated on November 24, 2023
in Animals, Mind & Brain, Neurology, News, Science
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

RelatedPosts

The coronavirus epidemic could be fueling higher rates of delirium, brain inflammation, stroke, and nerve damage
Mice With a Human Gene Started Squeaking Differently. Could This Tiny Genetic Mutation Explain the Origin of Speech?
Artificial synapse brings us one step closer to brain-like computers
New drug literally blows up the most aggresive brain cancer cells

A paper published recently in Nature Communications details how a team led by Dr. Ben Wilson and Professor Chris Petkov used a brain imaging technique to identify the neuronal evolutionary origins of language. Their findings help us understand how we learn to speak, and could allow new treatments for those who lost this ability from aphasia following a stroke or dementia.

Image via wikimedia

By scanning the brains of macaque monkeys, the researchers identified an area in the front of the brain that, in both humans and macaques, recognizes a sequence of sounds as speech, and is responsible for analyzing if the sounds are in legal order or in an unexpected, illegal order.

“Young children learn the rules of language as they develop, even before they are able to produce language. So, we used a ‘made up’ language first developed to study infants, which our lab has shown the monkeys can also learn. We then determined how the human and monkey brain evaluates the sequences of sounds from this made up language,” said Professor Petkov.

Human and monkey subjects were played an example sequence from the made-up language, to hear the correct order in the sequence of sounds. After this they were played new sequences, some of which were in an incorrect order, and the team scanned their brains using fMRI. In both species, there was neuronal response in the same region of the brain — the ventral frontal and opercular cortex — when the sounds were correctly ordered.

The findings suggest that this region’s functionality is shared between humans and macaques, revealing a common cerebral evolutionary source. This brain region seems to monitor the orderliness or organization of sounds and words, which is an important cognitive function, at the core of the more complex language abilities of humans. The findings are the first scientific evidence that other animals share with us at least some of the functions this area serves, which include understanding language in humans.

“Identifying this similarity between the monkey and human brain is also key to understanding the brain regions that support language but are not unique to us and can be studied in animal models using state-of-the-art neuroscientific technologies,” Professor Petkov explains.

“This will help us answer questions on how we learn language and on what goes wrong when we lose language, for example after a brain injury, stroke or dementia.”

Building on these developments, the Newcastle University team, with their neurology collaborators in Cambridge and Reading Universities have begun a project to study the function of this brain region and its role in language impairment in aphasic patients with stroke, which might lead to better diagnosis and prognosis of language impairment.

 

Tags: brainfMRIlanguageMacaquesspeech

ShareTweetShare
Alexandru Micu

Alexandru Micu

Stunningly charming pun connoisseur, I have been fascinated by the world around me since I first laid eyes on it. Always curious, I'm just having a little fun with some very serious science.

Related Posts

Home science

What side do cats prefer to sleep on? The left side, and there’s a good reason for that

byMihai Andrei
4 days ago
Close-up photo of a tiny wasp.
Animals

Wasp Mums Keep Remarkable Mental To-Do List For Multiple Nests Despite Tiny Brain

byRupendra Brahambhatt
6 days ago
Mind & Brain

Your Brain Uses Only 5% More Energy Whether You’re Actively Thinking or Not. So, What Causes Mental Fatigue?

byTibi Puiu
3 weeks ago
Future

Can you upload a human mind into a computer? Here’s what a neuroscientist has to say about it

byDobromir Rahnev
1 month ago

Recent news

China Resurrected an Abandoned Soviet ‘Sea Monster’ That’s Part Airplane, Part Hovercraft

June 30, 2025
great white shark

This Shark Expert Has Spent Decades Studying Attacks and Says We’ve Been Afraid for the Wrong Reasons

June 30, 2025

A Rocket Carried Cannabis Seeds and 166 Human Remains into Space But Their Capsule Never Made It Back

June 30, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.