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Benítez-Burraco A, Nikolsky A. The (Co)Evolution of Language and Music Under Human Self-Domestication. HUMAN NATURE (HAWTHORNE, N.Y.) 2023; 34:229-275. [PMID: 37097428 PMCID: PMC10354115 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-023-09447-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2023]
Abstract
Together with language, music is perhaps the most distinctive behavioral trait of the human species. Different hypotheses have been proposed to explain why only humans perform music and how this ability might have evolved in our species. In this paper, we advance a new model of music evolution that builds on the self-domestication view of human evolution, according to which the human phenotype is, at least in part, the outcome of a process similar to domestication in other mammals, triggered by the reduction in reactive aggression responses to environmental changes. We specifically argue that self-domestication can account for some of the cognitive changes, and particularly for the behaviors conducive to the complexification of music through a cultural mechanism. We hypothesize four stages in the evolution of music under self-domestication forces: (1) collective protomusic; (2) private, timbre-oriented music; (3) small-group, pitch-oriented music; and (4) collective, tonally organized music. This line of development encompasses the worldwide diversity of music types and genres and parallels what has been hypothesized for languages. Overall, music diversity might have emerged in a gradual fashion under the effects of the enhanced cultural niche construction as shaped by the progressive decrease in reactive (i.e., impulsive, triggered by fear or anger) aggression and the increase in proactive (i.e., premeditated, goal-directed) aggression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish Language, Linguistics and Literary Theory (Linguistics), Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
- Departamento de Lengua Española, Facultad de Filología, Área de Lingüística General, Lingüística y Teoría de la Literatura, Universidad de Sevilla, C/ Palos de la Frontera s/n, Sevilla, 41007, España.
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Boeckx C. What made us "hunter-gatherers of words". Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1080861. [PMID: 36845441 PMCID: PMC9947416 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1080861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
This paper makes three interconnected claims: (i) the "human condition" cannot be captured by evolutionary narratives that reduce it to a recent 'cognitive modernity', nor by narratives that eliminates all cognitive differences between us and out closest extinct relatives, (ii) signals from paleogenomics, especially coming from deserts of introgression but also from signatures of positive selection, point to the importance of mutations that impact neurodevelopment, plausibly leading to temperamental differences, which may impact cultural evolutionary trajectories in specific ways, and (iii) these trajectories are expected to affect the language phenotypes, modifying what is being learned and how it is put to use. In particular, I hypothesize that these different trajectories influence the development of symbolic systems, the flexible ways in which symbols combine, and the size and configurations of the communities in which these systems are put to use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cedric Boeckx
- Section of General Linguistics, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institute of Complex Systems, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
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Kazanina N, Tavano A. What neural oscillations can and cannot do for syntactic structure building. Nat Rev Neurosci 2023; 24:113-128. [PMID: 36460920 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-022-00659-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
Understanding what someone says requires relating words in a sentence to one another as instructed by the grammatical rules of a language. In recent years, the neurophysiological basis for this process has become a prominent topic of discussion in cognitive neuroscience. Current proposals about the neural mechanisms of syntactic structure building converge on a key role for neural oscillations in this process, but they differ in terms of the exact function that is assigned to them. In this Perspective, we discuss two proposed functions for neural oscillations - chunking and multiscale information integration - and evaluate their merits and limitations taking into account a fundamentally hierarchical nature of syntactic representations in natural languages. We highlight insights that provide a tangible starting point for a neurocognitive model of syntactic structure building.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina Kazanina
- University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
- Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia.
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Benítez-Burraco A, Jiménez-Romero MS, Fernández-Urquiza M. Delving into the Genetic Causes of Language Impairment in a Case of Partial Deletion of NRXN1. Mol Syndromol 2023; 13:496-510. [PMID: 36660026 PMCID: PMC9843585 DOI: 10.1159/000524710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Copy-number variations (CNVs) impacting on small DNA stretches and associated with language deficits provide a unique window to the role played by specific genes in language function. Methods We report in detail on the cognitive, language, and genetic features of a girl bearing a small deletion (0.186 Mb) in the 2p16.3 region, arr[hg19] 2p16.3(50761778_50947729)×1, affecting exons 3-7 of NRXN1, a neurexin-coding gene previously related to schizophrenia, autism (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), mood disorder, and intellectual disability (ID). Results The proband exhibits many of the features commonly found in subjects with deletions of NRXN1, like ASD-like traits (including ritualized behaviors, disordered sensory aspects, social disturbances, and impaired theory of mind), ADHD symptoms, moderate ID, and impaired speech and language. Regarding this latter aspect, we observed altered speech production, underdeveloped phonological awareness, minimal syntax, serious shortage of active vocabulary, impaired receptive language, and inappropriate pragmatic behavior (including lack of metapragmatic awareness and communicative use of gaze). Microarray analyses point to the dysregulation of several genes important for language function in the girl compared to her healthy parents. Discussion Although some basic cognitive deficit - such as the impairment of executive function - might contribute to the language problems exhibited by the proband, molecular evidence suggests that they might result, to a great extent, from the abnormal expression of genes directly related to language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics, and Theory of Literature (Linguistics), University of Seville, Seville, Spain,*Antonio Benítez-Burraco,
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Bone Tissue and the Nervous System: What Do They Have in Common? Cells 2022; 12:cells12010051. [PMID: 36611845 PMCID: PMC9818711 DOI: 10.3390/cells12010051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Degenerative diseases affecting bone tissues and the brain represent important problems with high socio-economic impact. Certain bone diseases, such as osteoporosis, are considered risk factors for the progression of neurological disorders. Often, patients with neurodegenerative diseases have bone fractures or reduced mobility linked to osteoarthritis. The bone is a dynamic tissue involved not only in movement but also in the maintenance of mineral metabolism. Bone is also associated with the generation of both hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), and thus the generation of the immune system, and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Bone marrow is a lymphoid organ and contains MSCs and HSCs, both of which are involved in brain health via the production of cytokines with endocrine functions. Hence, it seems clear that bone is involved in the regulation of the neuronal system and vice versa. This review summarizes the recent knowledge on the interactions between the nervous system and bone and highlights the importance of the interaction between nerve and bone cells. In addition, experimental models that study the interaction between nerve and skeletal cells are discussed, and innovative models are suggested to better evaluate the molecular interactions between these two cell types.
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Unraveling the functional attributes of the language connectome: crucial subnetworks, flexibility and variability. Neuroimage 2022; 263:119672. [PMID: 36209795 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Language processing is a highly integrative function, intertwining linguistic operations (processing the language code intentionally used for communication) and extra-linguistic processes (e.g., attention monitoring, predictive inference, long-term memory). This synergetic cognitive architecture requires a distributed and specialized neural substrate. Brain systems have mainly been examined at rest. However, task-related functional connectivity provides additional and valuable information about how information is processed when various cognitive states are involved. We gathered thirteen language fMRI tasks in a unique database of one hundred and fifty neurotypical adults (InLang [Interactive networks of Language] database), providing the opportunity to assess language features across a wide range of linguistic processes. Using this database, we applied network theory as a computational tool to model the task-related functional connectome of language (LANG atlas). The organization of this data-driven neurocognitive atlas of language was examined at multiple levels, uncovering its major components (or crucial subnetworks), and its anatomical and functional correlates. In addition, we estimated its reconfiguration as a function of linguistic demand (flexibility) or several factors such as age or gender (variability). We observed that several discrete networks could be specifically shaped to promote key functional features of language: coding-decoding (Net1), control-executive (Net2), abstract-knowledge (Net3), and sensorimotor (Net4) functions. The architecture of these systems and the functional connectivity of the pivotal brain regions varied according to the nature of the linguistic process, gender, or age. By accounting for the multifaceted nature of language and modulating factors, this study can contribute to enriching and refining existing neurocognitive models of language. The LANG atlas can also be considered a reference for comparative or clinical studies involving various patients and conditions.
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Buisan R, Moriano J, Andirkó A, Boeckx C. A Brain Region-Specific Expression Profile for Genes Within Large Introgression Deserts and Under Positive Selection in Homo sapiens. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:824740. [PMID: 35557944 PMCID: PMC9086289 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.824740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Analyses of ancient DNA from extinct hominins have provided unique insights into the complex evolutionary history of Homo sapiens, intricately related to that of the Neanderthals and the Denisovans as revealed by several instances of admixture events. These analyses have also allowed the identification of introgression deserts: genomic regions in our species that are depleted of “archaic” haplotypes. The presence of genes like FOXP2 in these deserts has been taken to be suggestive of brain-related functional differences between Homo species. Here, we seek a deeper characterization of these regions and the specific expression trajectories of genes within them, taking into account signals of positive selection in our lineage. Analyzing publicly available transcriptomic data from the human brain at different developmental stages, we found that structures outside the cerebral neocortex, in particular the cerebellum, the striatum and the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus show the most divergent transcriptomic profiles when considering genes within large introgression deserts and under positive selection.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Juan Moriano
- Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alejandro Andirkó
- Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cedric Boeckx
- Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems, Barcelona, Spain
- Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
- *Correspondence: Cedric Boeckx,
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Cognitive and behavioral modernity in Homo erectus: skull globularity and hominin brain evolution. ANTHROPOLOGICAL REVIEW 2022. [DOI: 10.2478/anre-2021-0030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
In this article we provide evidence that evolutionary pressures altered the cranial base and the mastoid region of the temporal bone more than the calvaria in the transition from H. erectus to H. sapiens. This process seems to have resulted in the evolution of more globular skull shape – but not as a result of expansion of the brain in the parietal regions but of reduction of the cranial base and the mastoid region relative to the parietals. Consequently, we argue that expansion of the parietals seems to be unrelated to brain evolution, but is more a by-product of reduction in other regions of the skull, reduction that may be related to dietary factors. Additionally, these findings suggest that cognitive and behavioural modernity may not necessarily be dependent on brain shape. Also, it cannot be attributed to the change in brain size because H. erectus and modern human cranial capacities overlap substantially. Consequently, we suggest H. erectus possessed the full suite of cognitive adaptations characteristic of modern humans without possessing a globular skull with flared parietals. Our results also support the theory that paedomorphic morphogenesis of the skull was important in the transition from H. erectus to H. sapiens and that such changes may be related to both dietary factors and social evolution.
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Missing links: The functional unification of language and memory (L∪M). Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 133:104489. [PMID: 34929226 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Revised: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
The field of neurocognition is currently undergoing a significant change of perspective. Traditional neurocognitive models evolved into an integrative and dynamic vision of cognitive functioning. Dynamic integration assumes an interaction between cognitive domains traditionally considered to be distinct. Language and declarative memory are regarded as separate functions supported by different neural systems. However, they also share anatomical structures (notably, the inferior frontal gyrus, the supplementary motor area, the superior and middle temporal gyrus, and the hippocampal complex) and cognitive processes (such as semantic and working memory) that merge to endorse our quintessential daily lives. We propose a new model, "L∪M" (i.e., Language/union/Memory), that considers these two functions interactively. We fractionated language and declarative memory into three fundamental dimensions or systems ("Receiver-Transmitter", "Controller-Manager" and "Transformer-Associative" Systems), that communicate reciprocally. We formalized their interactions at the brain level with a connectivity-based approach. This new taxonomy overcomes the modular view of cognitive functioning and reconciles functional specialization with plasticity in neurological disorders.
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Palaniyappan L, Du J, Zhang J, Feng J. Reply to: "Historical pursuits of the language pathway hypothesis of schizophrenia". NPJ SCHIZOPHRENIA 2021; 7:54. [PMID: 34753936 PMCID: PMC8578441 DOI: 10.1038/s41537-021-00183-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lena Palaniyappan
- Department of Psychiatry and Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
- Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jingnan Du
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 200030, Shanghai, China
- Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain Inspired Intelligence (Fudan University), Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China
| | - Jie Zhang
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
- Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain Inspired Intelligence (Fudan University), Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China.
| | - Jianfeng Feng
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
- Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain Inspired Intelligence (Fudan University), Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China.
- Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.
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Levi G, de Lombares C, Giuliani C, Iannuzzi V, Aouci R, Garagnani P, Franceschi C, Grimaud-Hervé D, Narboux-Nême N. DLX5/6 GABAergic Expression Affects Social Vocalization: Implications for Human Evolution. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:4748-4764. [PMID: 34132815 PMCID: PMC8557472 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
DLX5 and DLX6 are two closely related transcription factors involved in brain development and in GABAergic differentiation. The DLX5/6 locus is regulated by FoxP2, a gene involved in language evolution and has been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and mental retardation. Targeted inactivation of Dlx5/6 in mouse GABAergic neurons (Dlx5/6VgatCre mice) results in behavioral and metabolic phenotypes notably increasing lifespan by 33%. Here, we show that Dlx5/6VgatCre mice present a hyper-vocalization and hyper-socialization phenotype. While only 7% of control mice emitted more than 700 vocalizations/10 min, 30% and 56% of heterozygous or homozygous Dlx5/6VgatCre mice emitted more than 700 and up to 1,400 calls/10 min with a higher proportion of complex and modulated calls. Hyper-vocalizing animals were more sociable: the time spent in dynamic interactions with an unknown visitor was more than doubled compared to low-vocalizing individuals. The characters affected by Dlx5/6 in the mouse (sociability, vocalization, skull, and brain shape…) overlap those affected in the "domestication syndrome". We therefore explored the possibility that DLX5/6 played a role in human evolution and "self-domestication" comparing DLX5/6 genomic regions from Neanderthal and modern humans. We identified an introgressed Neanderthal haplotype (DLX5/6-N-Haplotype) present in 12.6% of European individuals that covers DLX5/6 coding and regulatory sequences. The DLX5/6-N-Haplotype includes the binding site for GTF2I, a gene associated with Williams-Beuren syndrome, a hyper-sociability and hyper-vocalization neurodevelopmental disorder. The DLX5/6-N-Haplotype is significantly underrepresented in semi-supercentenarians (>105 years of age), a well-established human model of healthy aging and longevity, suggesting their involvement in the coevolution of longevity, sociability, and speech.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Levi
- Physiologie Moléculaire et Adaptation, CNRS UMR7221, Département AVIV, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Camille de Lombares
- Physiologie Moléculaire et Adaptation, CNRS UMR7221, Département AVIV, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Cristina Giuliani
- Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology & Centre for Genome Biology, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Iannuzzi
- Alma Mater Research Institute on Global Challenges and Climate Change, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Rym Aouci
- Physiologie Moléculaire et Adaptation, CNRS UMR7221, Département AVIV, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Paolo Garagnani
- Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Clinical Chemistry, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet at Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Claudio Franceschi
- Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Institute of Information Technologies, Mathematics and Mechanics, Lobachevsky University, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia
| | - Dominique Grimaud-Hervé
- Histoire Naturelle de l’Homme Préhistorique, CNRS UMR 7194, Département H&E, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Nicolas Narboux-Nême
- Physiologie Moléculaire et Adaptation, CNRS UMR7221, Département AVIV, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
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Benítez-Burraco A, Pörtl D, Jung C. Did Dog Domestication Contribute to Language Evolution? Front Psychol 2021; 12:695116. [PMID: 34589022 PMCID: PMC8473740 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.695116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Different factors seemingly account for the emergence of present-day languages in our species. Human self-domestication has been recently invoked as one important force favoring language complexity mostly via a cultural mechanism. Because our self-domestication ultimately resulted from selection for less aggressive behavior and increased prosocial behavior, any evolutionary or cultural change impacting on aggression levels is expected to have fostered this process. Here, we hypothesize about a parallel domestication of humans and dogs, and more specifically, about a positive effect of our interaction with dogs on human self-domestication, and ultimately, on aspects of language evolution, through the mechanisms involved in the control of aggression. We review evidence of diverse sort (ethological mostly, but also archeological, genetic, and physiological) supporting such an effect and propose some ways of testing our hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics, and Theory of Literature (Linguistics), Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | - Daniela Pörtl
- Psychiatric Department, Saale-Unstrut Klinikum, Teaching Hospital Leipzig and Jena Universities, Naumburg, Germany
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Benítez-Burraco A, Chekalin E, Bruskin S, Tatarinova T, Morozova I. Recent selection of candidate genes for mammal domestication in Europeans and language change in Europe: a hypothesis. Ann Hum Biol 2021; 48:313-320. [PMID: 34241552 DOI: 10.1080/03014460.2021.1936634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM Human evolution resulted from changes in our biology, behaviour, and culture. One source of these changes has been hypothesised to be our self-domestication (that is, the development in humans of features commonly found in domesticated strains of mammals, seemingly as a result of selection for reduced aggression). Signals of domestication, notably brain size reduction, have increased in recent times. METHODS In this paper, we compare whole-genome data between the Late Neolithic/Bronze Age individuals and modern Europeans. RESULTS We show that genes associated with mammal domestication and with neural crest development and function are significantly differently enriched in nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms between these two groups. CONCLUSION We hypothesise that these changes might account for the increased features of self-domestication in modern humans and, ultimately, for subtle recent changes in human cognition and behaviour, including language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics, and Theory of Literature, Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | - Evgeny Chekalin
- Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Sergey Bruskin
- Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Tatiana Tatarinova
- Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.,Department of Biology, University of La Verne, La Verne, CA, USA.,A. A. Kharkevich Institute for Information Transmission Problems, Moscow, Russia.,Department of Fundamental Biology and Biotechnology, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
| | - Irina Morozova
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Benítez-Burraco A, Fernández-Urquiza M, Jiménez-Romero S. Language impairment with a microduplication in 1q42.3q43. CLINICAL LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS 2021; 35:610-635. [PMID: 32856472 DOI: 10.1080/02699206.2020.1812119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Revised: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 08/16/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Deletions and duplications of the distal region of the long arm of chromosome 1 are associated with brain abnormalities and developmental delay. Because duplications are less frequent than deletions, no detailed account of the cognitive profile of the affected people is available, particularly, regarding their language (dis)abilities. In this paper we report on the cognitive and language capacities of a girl with one of the smallest interstitial duplications ever described in this region, affecting to 1q42.3q43 (arr[hg19] 1q42.3q43(235,963,632-236,972,276)x3), and advance potential candidate genes for the observed deficits. The proband's speech is severely impaired, exhibiting dysarthric-like features, with speech problems also resulting from a phonological deficit boiling down to a verbal auditory memory deficit. Lexical and grammatical knowledge are also impaired, impacting negatively on both expressive and receptive abilities, seemingly as a consequence of the phonological deficit. Still, her pragmatic abilities seem to be significantly spared, granting her a good command on the principles governing conversational exchanges. Genetic analyses point to several genes of interest. These include one gene within the duplicated region (LYST), one predicted functional partner (CMIP), and three genes outside the 1q42.3q43 region, which are all highly expressed in the cerebellum: DDIT4 and SLC29A1, found strongly downregulated in the proband compared to her healthy parents, and CNTNAP3, found strongly upregulated. The genes highlighted in the paper emerge as potential candidates for the phonological and speech deficits exhibited by the proband and ultimately, for her problems with language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics, and Theory of Literature (Linguistics), University of Seville, Seville, Spain
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Benítez-Burraco A, Ferretti F, Progovac L. Human Self-Domestication and the Evolution of Pragmatics. Cogn Sci 2021; 45:e12987. [PMID: 34170029 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2020] [Revised: 04/25/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
As proposed for the emergence of modern languages, we argue that modern uses of languages (pragmatics) also evolved gradually in our species under the effects of human self-domestication, with three key aspects involved in a complex feedback loop: (a) a reduction in reactive aggression, (b) the sophistication of language structure (with emerging grammars initially facilitating the transition from physical aggression to verbal aggression); and (c) the potentiation of pragmatic principles governing conversation, including, but not limited to, turn-taking and inferential abilities. Our core hypothesis is that the reduction in reactive aggression, one of the key factors in self-domestication processes, enabled us to fully exploit our cognitive and interactional potential as applied to linguistic exchanges, and ultimately to evolve a specific form of communication governed by persuasive reciprocity-a trait of human conversation characterized by both competition and cooperation. In turn, both early crude forms of language, well suited for verbal aggression/insult, and later more sophisticated forms of language, well suited for persuasive reciprocity, significantly contributed to the resolution and reduction of (physical) aggression, thus having a return effect on the self-domestication processes. Supporting evidence for our proposal, as well as grounds for further testing, comes mainly from the consideration of cognitive disorders, which typically simultaneously present abnormal features of self-domestication (including aggressive behavior) and problems with pragmatics and social functioning. While various approaches to language evolution typically reduce it to a single factor, our approach considers language evolution as a multifactorial process, with each player acting upon the other, engaging in an intense mutually reinforcing feedback loop. Moreover, we see language evolution as a gradual process, continuous with the pre-linguistic cognitive abilities, which were engaged in a positive feedback loop with linguistic innovations, and where gene-culture co-evolution and cultural niche construction were the main driving forces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics and Theory of Literature (Linguistics), Faculty of Philology, University of Seville
| | - Francesco Ferretti
- Department of Philosophy, Communication and Performing Arts. Roma Tre University
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16
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Benítez-Burraco A, Progovac L. Language evolution: examining the link between cross-modality and aggression through the lens of disorders. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200188. [PMID: 33745319 PMCID: PMC8059641 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
We demonstrate how two linguistic phenomena, figurative language (implicating cross-modality) and derogatory language (implicating aggression), both demand a precise degree of (dis)inhibition in the same cortico-subcortical brain circuits, in particular cortico-striatal networks, whose connectivity has been significantly enhanced in recent evolution. We examine four cognitive disorders/conditions that exhibit abnormal patterns of (dis)inhibition in these networks: schizophrenia (SZ), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), synaesthesia and Tourette's syndrome (TS), with the goal of understanding why the two phenomena altered reactive aggression and altered cross-modality cluster together in these disorders. Our proposal is that enhanced cross-modality (necessary to support language, in particular metaphoricity) was a result, partly a side-effect, of self-domestication (SD). SD targeted the taming of reactive aggression, but reactive impulses are controlled by the same cortico-subcortical networks that are implicated in cross-modality. We further add that this biological process of SD did not act alone, but was engaged in an intense feedback loop with the cultural emergence of early forms of language/grammar, whose high degree of raw metaphoricity and verbal aggression also contributed to increased brain connectivity and cortical control. Consequently, in conjunction with linguistic expressions serving as approximations/'fossils' of the earliest stages of language, these cognitive disorders/conditions serve as confident proxies of brain changes in language evolution, helping us reconstruct certain crucial aspects of early prehistoric languages and cognition, as well as shed new light on the nature of the disorders. This article is part of the theme issue 'Reconstructing prehistoric languages'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics and Theory of Literature (Linguistics), Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | - Ljiljana Progovac
- Linguistics Program, Department of English, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
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17
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Du J, Palaniyappan L, Liu Z, Cheng W, Gong W, Zhu M, Wang J, Zhang J, Feng J. The genetic determinants of language network dysconnectivity in drug-naïve early stage schizophrenia. NPJ SCHIZOPHRENIA 2021; 7:18. [PMID: 33658499 PMCID: PMC7930279 DOI: 10.1038/s41537-021-00141-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a neurocognitive illness of synaptic and brain network-level dysconnectivity that often reaches a persistent chronic stage in many patients. Subtle language deficits are a core feature even in the early stages of schizophrenia. However, the primacy of language network dysconnectivity and language-related genetic variants in the observed phenotype in early stages of illness remains unclear. This study used two independent schizophrenia dataset consisting of 138 and 53 drug-naïve first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients, and 112 and 56 healthy controls, respectively. A brain-wide voxel-level functional connectivity analysis was conducted to investigate functional dysconnectivity and its relationship with illness duration. We also explored the association between critical language-related genetic (such as FOXP2) mutations and the altered functional connectivity in patients. We found elevated functional connectivity involving Broca's area, thalamus and temporal cortex that were replicated in two FES datasets. In particular, Broca's area - anterior cingulate cortex dysconnectivity was more pronounced for patients with shorter illness duration, while thalamic dysconnectivity was predominant in those with longer illness duration. Polygenic risk scores obtained from FOXP2-related genes were strongly associated with functional dysconnectivity identified in patients with shorter illness duration. Our results highlight the criticality of language network dysconnectivity, involving the Broca's area in early stages of schizophrenia, and the role of language-related genes in this aberration, providing both imaging and genetic evidence for the association between schizophrenia and the determinants of language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingnan Du
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain Inspired Intelligence (Fudan University), Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China
| | - Lena Palaniyappan
- Department of Psychiatry and Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada
| | - Zhaowen Liu
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Wei Cheng
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain Inspired Intelligence (Fudan University), Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China
| | - Weikang Gong
- Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Mengmeng Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Jijun Wang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Jie Zhang
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
- Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain Inspired Intelligence (Fudan University), Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China.
| | - Jianfeng Feng
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
- Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain Inspired Intelligence (Fudan University), Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China.
- Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
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18
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Benítez-Burraco A, Fernández-Urquiza M, Jiménez-Romero MS. Language Impairment with a Partial Duplication of DOCK8. Mol Syndromol 2021; 11:243-263. [PMID: 33510598 DOI: 10.1159/000511972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Duplications of the distal region of the short arm of chromosome 9 are rare, but are associated with learning disabilities and behavioral disturbances. We report in detail the cognitive and language features of a child with a duplication in the 9p24.3 region, arr[hg19] 9p24.3(266,045-459,076)×3. The proband exhibits marked expressive and receptive problems, which affect both structural and functional aspects of language. These problems might result from a severe underlying deficit in working memory. Regarding the molecular causes of the observed symptoms, they might result from the altered expression of selected genes involved in procedural learning, particularly some of components of the SLIT/ROBO/FOXP2 network, strongly related to the development and evolution of language. Dysregulation of specific components of this network can result in turn from an altered interaction between DOCK8, affected by the microduplication, and CDC42, acting as the hub component of the network encompassing language-related genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics, and Theory of Literature (Linguistics), University of Seville, Seville, Spain
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19
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Abstract
Abstract
Hierarchical structure and compositionality imbue human language with unparalleled expressive power and set it apart from other perception–action systems. However, neither formal nor neurobiological models account for how these defining computational properties might arise in a physiological system. I attempt to reconcile hierarchy and compositionality with principles from cell assembly computation in neuroscience; the result is an emerging theory of how the brain could convert distributed perceptual representations into hierarchical structures across multiple timescales while representing interpretable incremental stages of (de)compositional meaning. The model's architecture—a multidimensional coordinate system based on neurophysiological models of sensory processing—proposes that a manifold of neural trajectories encodes sensory, motor, and abstract linguistic states. Gain modulation, including inhibition, tunes the path in the manifold in accordance with behavior and is how latent structure is inferred. As a consequence, predictive information about upcoming sensory input during production and comprehension is available without a separate operation. The proposed processing mechanism is synthesized from current models of neural entrainment to speech, concepts from systems neuroscience and category theory, and a symbolic-connectionist computational model that uses time and rhythm to structure information. I build on evidence from cognitive neuroscience and computational modeling that suggests a formal and mechanistic alignment between structure building and neural oscillations, and moves toward unifying basic insights from linguistics and psycholinguistics with the currency of neural computation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea E. Martin
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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20
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Genes dysregulated in the blood of people with Williams syndrome are enriched in protein-coding genes positively selected in humans. Eur J Med Genet 2020; 63:103828. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmg.2019.103828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2019] [Revised: 11/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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21
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Progovac L, Benítez-Burraco A. From Physical Aggression to Verbal Behavior: Language Evolution and Self-Domestication Feedback Loop. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2807. [PMID: 31920850 PMCID: PMC6930236 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2019] [Accepted: 11/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We propose that human self-domestication favored the emergence of a less aggressive phenotype in our species, more precisely phenotype prone to replace (reactive) physical aggression with verbal aggression. In turn, the (gradual) transition to verbal aggression and to more sophisticated forms of verbal behavior favored self-domestication, with the two processes engaged in a mutually reinforcing feedback loop, considering that verbal behavior entails not only less violence and better survival but also more opportunities to interact longer and socialize with more conspecifics, ultimately enabling the emergence of more complex forms of language. Whereas in the case of self-domestication, sexual selection has been proposed to work against physical aggression traits, in the case of verbal insult, the selection has been proposed to work in favor of verbal aggression. The tension between these two seemingly opposing forces gets resolved/alleviated by a tendency to replace physical aggression with verbal aggression and with verbal behavior more generally. This also helps solve the paradox of the Self-Domestication Hypothesis regarding aggression, more precisely why aggression in humans has been reduced only when it comes to reactive aggression, but not when it comes to proactive aggression, the latter exhibiting an increase in the advent of modern language. We postulate that this feedback loop was particularly important during the time period arguably between 200 and 50 kya, when humans were not fully modern, neither in terms of their skull/brain morphology and their behavior/culture nor in terms of their self-domestication. The novelty of our approach lies in (1) giving an active role to early forms of language in interacting with self-domestication processes; (2) providing specific linguistic details and functions of this early stage of grammar (including insult and humor); (3) supplying neurobiological, ontogenetic, and clinical evidence of a link between (reactive) aggression and (reactive) verbal behavior; (4) identifying proxies of the earlier stages in evolution among cognitive disorders; and (5) identifying specific points of contact and mutual reinforcement between these two processes (self-domestication and early language evolution), including reduction in physical aggression and stress/tension, as well as sexual selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ljiljana Progovac
- Linguistics Program, Department of English, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish Language, Linguistics and Literary Theory (Linguistics), Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
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22
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Langley MC, Benítez‐Burraco A, Kempe V. Playing with language, creating complexity: Has play contributed to the evolution of complex language? Evol Anthropol 2019; 29:29-40. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.21810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2018] [Revised: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 10/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michelle C. Langley
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research InstituteGriffith University Brisbane Queensland Australia
| | - Antonio Benítez‐Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics, and Theory of Literature (Linguistics), Faculty of PhilologyUniversity of Seville Seville Spain
| | - Vera Kempe
- Division of Psychology, School of Applied SciencesAbertay University Dundee UK
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23
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Pleyer M, Hartmann S. Constructing a Consensus on Language Evolution? Convergences and Differences Between Biolinguistic and Usage-Based Approaches. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2537. [PMID: 31803099 PMCID: PMC6868443 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Two of the main theoretical approaches to the evolution of language are biolinguistics and usage-based approaches. Both are often conceptualized as belonging to seemingly irreconcilable “camps.” Biolinguistic approaches assume that the ability to acquire language is based on a language-specific genetic foundation. Usage-based approaches, on the other hand, stress the importance of domain-general cognitive capacities, social cognition, and interaction. However, there have been a number of recent developments in both paradigms which suggest that biolinguistic and usage-based approaches are actually moving closer together. For example, theoretical advancements such as evo-devo and complex adaptive system theory have gained traction in the language sciences, leading to changed conceptions of issues like the relative influence of “nature” and “nurture.” In this paper, we outline points of convergence between current minimalist biolinguistic and usage-based approaches regarding four contentious issues: (1) modularity and domain specificity; (2) innateness and development; (3) cultural and biological evolution; and (4) knowledge of language and its description. We show that across both paradigms, researchers have come to increasingly embrace more complex views of these issues. They also have come to appreciate the view that biological and cultural evolution are closely intertwined, which lead to an increased amount of common ground between minimalist biolinguistics and usage-based approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Pleyer
- English Department, University of Koblenz-Landau, Koblenz, Germany
| | - Stefan Hartmann
- German Department, Chair of German Linguistics, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany
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24
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Benítez-Burraco A, Murphy E. Why Brain Oscillations Are Improving Our Understanding of Language. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 13:190. [PMID: 31551725 PMCID: PMC6736581 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Accepted: 08/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
We explore the potential that brain oscillations have for improving our understanding of how language develops, is processed in the brain, and initially evolved in our species. The different synchronization patterns of brain rhythms can account for different perceptual and cognitive functions, and we argue that this includes language. We aim to address six distinct questions—the What, How, Where, Who, Why, and When questions—pertaining to oscillatory investigations of language. Language deficits found in clinical conditions like autism, schizophrenia and dyslexia can be satisfactorily construed in terms of an abnormal, disorder-specific pattern of brain rhythmicity. Lastly, an eco-evo-devo approach to language is defended with explicit reference to brain oscillations, embracing a framework that considers language evolution to be the result of a changing environment surrounding developmental paths of the primate brain.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Elliot Murphy
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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25
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Tattersall I. The Minimalist Program and the Origin of Language: A View From Paleoanthropology. Front Psychol 2019; 10:677. [PMID: 31001169 PMCID: PMC6454856 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Accepted: 03/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
In arguing that articulate language is underpinned by an algorithmically simple neural operation, the Minimalist Program (MP) retrodicts that language emerged in a short-term event. Because spoken language leaves no physical traces, its ancient use must be inferred from archeological proxies. These strongly suggest that modern symbolic human behavior patterns – and, by extension, cognition – emerged both abruptly and late in time (subsequent to the appearance of Homo sapiens as an anatomical entity some 200 thousand years kyr ago). Because the evidence is compelling that language is an integral component of modern symbolic thought, the archeological evidence clearly supports the basic tenet of the MP. But the associated proposition, that language was externalized in an independent event that followed its initial appearance as a conduit to internal thought, is much more debatable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian Tattersall
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, United States
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26
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Benítez-Burraco A, Kimura R. Robust Candidates for Language Development and Evolution Are Significantly Dysregulated in the Blood of People With Williams Syndrome. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:258. [PMID: 30971880 PMCID: PMC6444191 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2019] [Accepted: 03/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Williams syndrome (WS) is a clinical condition, involving cognitive deficits and an uneven language profile, which has been the object of intense inquiry over the last decades. Although WS results from the hemideletion of around two dozen genes in chromosome 7, no gene has yet been probed to account for, or contribute significantly to, the language problems exhibited by the affected people. In this paper we have relied on gene expression profiles in the peripheral blood of WS patients obtained by microarray analysis and show that several robust candidates for language disorders and/or for language evolution in the species, all of them located outside the hemideleted region, are up- or downregulated in the blood of subjects with WS. Most of these genes play a role in the development and function of brain areas involved in language processing, which exhibit structural and functional anomalies in people with this condition. Overall, these genes emerge as robust candidates for language dysfunction in WS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics, and Theory of Literature (Linguistics), Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | - Ryo Kimura
- Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
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27
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Niego A, Benítez-Burraco A. Williams Syndrome, Human Self-Domestication, and Language Evolution. Front Psychol 2019; 10:521. [PMID: 30936846 PMCID: PMC6431629 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2018] [Accepted: 02/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Language evolution resulted from changes in our biology, behavior, and culture. One source of these changes might be human self-domestication. Williams syndrome (WS) is a clinical condition with a clearly defined genetic basis which results in a distinctive behavioral and cognitive profile, including enhanced sociability. In this paper we show evidence that the WS phenotype can be satisfactorily construed as a hyper-domesticated human phenotype, plausibly resulting from the effect of the WS hemideletion on selected candidates for domestication and neural crest (NC) function. Specifically, we show that genes involved in animal domestication and NC development and function are significantly dysregulated in the blood of subjects with WS. We also discuss the consequences of this link between domestication and WS for our current understanding of language evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy Niego
- Ph.D. Program, Faculty of Humanities, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain
| | - Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics, and Theory of Literature, Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
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28
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Murphy E, Benítez-Burraco A. Toward the Language Oscillogenome. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1999. [PMID: 30405489 PMCID: PMC6206218 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2018] [Accepted: 09/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Language has been argued to arise, both ontogenetically and phylogenetically, from specific patterns of brain wiring. We argue that it can further be shown that core features of language processing emerge from particular phasal and cross-frequency coupling properties of neural oscillations; what has been referred to as the language ‘oscillome.’ It is expected that basic aspects of the language oscillome result from genetic guidance, what we will here call the language ‘oscillogenome,’ for which we will put forward a list of candidate genes. We have considered genes for altered brain rhythmicity in conditions involving language deficits: autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, specific language impairment and dyslexia. These selected genes map on to aspects of brain function, particularly on to neurotransmitter function. We stress that caution should be adopted in the construction of any oscillogenome, given the range of potential roles particular localized frequency bands have in cognition. Our aim is to propose a set of genome-to-language linking hypotheses that, given testing, would grant explanatory power to brain rhythms with respect to language processing and evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elliot Murphy
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Psychology, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom
| | - Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish Language, Linguistics and Literary Theory, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
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29
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Abstract
It is clear that the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) contributes in some fashion to sentence processing. While neuroimaging and neuropsychological evidence support a domain-general working memory function, recent neuroimaging data show that particular subregions of the LIFG, particularly the pars triangularis (pTri), show selective activation for sentences relative to verbal working memory and cognitive control tasks. These data suggest a language-specific function rather than a domain-general one. To resolve this apparent conflict, I propose separating claims of domain-generality and specificity independently for computations and representations-a given brain region may respond to a specific representation while performing a general computation over that representation, one shared with other systems. I hypothesize that the pTri underlies a language-specific working memory system, comprised of general memory retrieval/attention operations specialized for syntactic representations. There is a parallelism of top-down retrieval function among the phonological and semantic levels, localized to the pars opercularis and pars orbitalis, respectively. I further explore the idea of how such a system emerges in the human brain through the framework of neuronal retuning: the "borrowing" of domain-general mechanisms for language, either in evolution or development. The empirical data appear to tentatively support a developmental account of language-specificity in the pTri, possibly through connections to the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), a region that is both anatomically distinct for humans and functionally essential for language. Evidence of representational response specificity obtained from neuroimaging studies is useful in understanding how cognition is implemented in the brain. However, understanding the shared computations across domains and neural systems is necessary for a fuller understanding of this problem, providing potential answers to questions of how specialized systems, such as language, are implemented in the brain.
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30
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Hou L, Xiang L, Crow TJ, Leroy F, Rivière D, Mangin JF, Roberts N. Measurement of Sylvian Fissure asymmetry and occipital bending in humans and Pan troglodytes. Neuroimage 2018; 184:855-870. [PMID: 30170149 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.08.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2017] [Revised: 08/15/2018] [Accepted: 08/17/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolution of human-specific lateralised functions such as language has been linked to the development of structural asymmetries in the brain. Here we applied state of the art image analysis techniques to measure Sylvian Fissure (SF) asymmetry and Occipital Bending (OB) in 3D Magnetic Resonance (MR) images of the brain obtained in-vivo for 30 humans and 30 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). SF morphology differed between species, with the human SF terminating more superiorly in right inferior parietal lobe, an asymmetry that was on average absent in chimpanzees (F (1,52) = 5.963, p = 0.018). Irrespective of morphology, Total SF Length was, as previously reported, leftward in humans but not in chimpanzees, although the difference did not reach significance between species. However, when only brains possessing comparable bilateral SF bifurcation morphology were compared, humans showed previously reported "Typical" left-lateralised Anterior-Horizontal (AH-SF) and right-lateralised Vertical (V-SF) SF asymmetries. In contrast, chimpanzees lacked both asymmetries, and this approached being a significant difference between-species in the AH-SF segment (F (1, 34) = 3.680, p = 0.064). On average in humans the left occipital lobe crossed the midline toward the right (Rightward OB) which was significantly different from the chimpanzee cohort that showed no average OB (Independent-Samples Mann-Whitney U Test, p = 0.012). Furthermore, OB was related to SF asymmetry in humans, such that the more rightward V-SF and leftward AH-SF, the more rightward the OB. This "Default" pattern of SF and OB asymmetries was found in 41.7% of human individuals with bilateral SF bifurcation but none of the chimpanzees. To our knowledge, this is the first study highlighting that a pattern of SF and OB asymmetry distinguishes the human from the chimpanzee brain, and suggests this may be associated with a unique trajectory of brain development and functional abilities in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lewis Hou
- Edinburgh Imaging, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH16 4TJ, United Kingdom.
| | - Li Xiang
- Edinburgh Imaging, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH16 4TJ, United Kingdom.
| | - Timothy J Crow
- Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX, United Kingdom.
| | - François Leroy
- Neurospin, Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, INSERM, CEA, Paris-Saclay University, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
| | - Denis Rivière
- Neurospin, CEA, Paris-Saclay University, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
| | | | - Neil Roberts
- Edinburgh Imaging, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH16 4TJ, United Kingdom.
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33
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Benítez-Burraco A, Kempe V. The Emergence of Modern Languages: Has Human Self-Domestication Optimized Language Transmission? Front Psychol 2018; 9:551. [PMID: 29719524 PMCID: PMC5914278 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2018] [Accepted: 04/03/2018] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics, and Theory of Literature, Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | - Vera Kempe
- Division of Psychology, School of Social and Health Sciences, Abertay University, Dundee, United Kingdom
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34
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Thomas J, Kirby S. Self domestication and the evolution of language. BIOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY 2018; 33:9. [PMID: 29606782 PMCID: PMC5871649 DOI: 10.1007/s10539-018-9612-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2017] [Accepted: 03/13/2018] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
We set out an account of how self-domestication plays a crucial role in the evolution of language. In doing so, we focus on the growing body of work that treats language structure as emerging from the process of cultural transmission. We argue that a full recognition of the importance of cultural transmission fundamentally changes the kind of questions we should be asking regarding the biological basis of language structure. If we think of language structure as reflecting an accumulated set of changes in our genome, then we might ask something like, "What are the genetic bases of language structure and why were they selected?" However, if cultural evolution can account for language structure, then this question no longer applies. Instead, we face the task of accounting for the origin of the traits that enabled that process of structure-creating cultural evolution to get started in the first place. In light of work on cultural evolution, then, the new question for biological evolution becomes, "How did those precursor traits evolve?" We identify two key precursor traits: (1) the transmission of the communication system through learning; and (2) the ability to infer the communicative intent associated with a signal or action. We then describe two comparative case studies-the Bengalese finch and the domestic dog-in which parallel traits can be seen emerging following domestication. Finally, we turn to the role of domestication in human evolution. We argue that the cultural evolution of language structure has its origin in an earlier process of self-domestication.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Thomas
- Centre for Language Evolution, University of Edinburgh, 3 Charles Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AD UK
| | - Simon Kirby
- Centre for Language Evolution, University of Edinburgh, 3 Charles Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AD UK
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Neubauer S, Hublin JJ, Gunz P. The evolution of modern human brain shape. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2018; 4:eaao5961. [PMID: 29376123 PMCID: PMC5783678 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao5961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 131] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2017] [Accepted: 12/19/2017] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Modern humans have large and globular brains that distinguish them from their extinct Homo relatives. The characteristic globularity develops during a prenatal and early postnatal period of rapid brain growth critical for neural wiring and cognitive development. However, it remains unknown when and how brain globularity evolved and how it relates to evolutionary brain size increase. On the basis of computed tomographic scans and geometric morphometric analyses, we analyzed endocranial casts of Homo sapiens fossils (N = 20) from different time periods. Our data show that, 300,000 years ago, brain size in early H. sapiens already fell within the range of present-day humans. Brain shape, however, evolved gradually within the H. sapiens lineage, reaching present-day human variation between about 100,000 and 35,000 years ago. This process started only after other key features of craniofacial morphology appeared modern and paralleled the emergence of behavioral modernity as seen from the archeological record. Our findings are consistent with important genetic changes affecting early brain development within the H. sapiens lineage since the origin of the species and before the transition to the Later Stone Age and the Upper Paleolithic that mark full behavioral modernity.
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Abstract
This article offers a succinct overview of the hypothesis that the evolution of cognition could benefit from a close examination of brain changes reflected in the shape of the neurocranium. I provide both neurological and genetic evidence in support of this hypothesis, and conclude that the study of language evolution need not be regarded as a mystery.
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37
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Abstract
Views differ radically as to how deep the roots of language lie in human phylogeny, largely because prior to the development of writing systems, this striking human attribute has to be inferred from indirect proxies preserved in the material record. Here I argue that the most appropriate such archaeological proxies encode the modern human symbolic cognitive system from which language emerges. Throughout the 2.5 million years or more for which an archaeological record has existed, change has been both sporadic and rare-until symbolic objects and behaviors begin to appear, well within the tenure of our highly apomorphic species Homo sapiens. I propose that the biology underwriting our unusual cognitive and linguistic systems was acquired in the major developmental reorganization that gave rise to our anatomically distinctive species around 200,000 years ago in Africa. However, the material record indicates that this new potential lay fallow for around 100,000 years, following which it was released by what was necessarily a behavioral stimulus. By far the best candidate for that stimulus is the spontaneous invention of language, which is plausibly underwritten by a relatively simple mental algorithm, and could readily have spurred symbolic cognitive processes in a feedback process. None of this means that earlier hominid vocal communication systems were not complex, or that extinct hominid species were not highly intelligent. But it does emphasize the qualitative distinctiveness of both modern symbolic cognition and language.
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Goucha T, Zaccarella E, Friederici A. A revival of Homo loquens as a builder of labeled structures: Neurocognitive considerations. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 81:213-224. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.01.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2016] [Revised: 01/24/2017] [Accepted: 01/26/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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Benítez-Burraco A. Figurative Language, Language Disorders, and Language(s) Evolution. Front Psychol 2017; 8:1713. [PMID: 29033883 PMCID: PMC5627180 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2017] [Accepted: 09/19/2017] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
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Oswald F, Klöble P, Ruland A, Rosenkranz D, Hinz B, Butter F, Ramljak S, Zechner U, Herlyn H. The FOXP2-Driven Network in Developmental Disorders and Neurodegeneration. Front Cell Neurosci 2017; 11:212. [PMID: 28798667 PMCID: PMC5526973 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2017.00212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2017] [Accepted: 07/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The transcription repressor FOXP2 is a crucial player in nervous system evolution and development of humans and songbirds. In order to provide an additional insight into its functional role we compared target gene expression levels between human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) stably overexpressing FOXP2 cDNA of either humans or the common chimpanzee, Rhesus monkey, and marmoset, respectively. RNA-seq led to identification of 27 genes with differential regulation under the control of human FOXP2, which were previously reported to have FOXP2-driven and/or songbird song-related expression regulation. RT-qPCR and Western blotting indicated differential regulation of additional 13 new target genes in response to overexpression of human FOXP2. These genes may be directly regulated by FOXP2 considering numerous matches of established FOXP2-binding motifs as well as publicly available FOXP2-ChIP-seq reads within their putative promoters. Ontology analysis of the new and reproduced targets, along with their interactors in a network, revealed an enrichment of terms relating to cellular signaling and communication, metabolism and catabolism, cellular migration and differentiation, and expression regulation. Notably, terms including the words "neuron" or "axonogenesis" were also enriched. Complementary literature screening uncovered many connections to human developmental (autism spectrum disease, schizophrenia, Down syndrome, agenesis of corpus callosum, trismus-pseudocamptodactyly, ankyloglossia, facial dysmorphology) and neurodegenerative diseases and disorders (Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases, Lewy body dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Links to deafness and dyslexia were detected, too. Such relations existed for single proteins (e.g., DCDC2, NURR1, PHOX2B, MYH8, and MYH13) and groups of proteins which conjointly function in mRNA processing, ribosomal recruitment, cell-cell adhesion (e.g., CDH4), cytoskeleton organization, neuro-inflammation, and processing of amyloid precursor protein. Conspicuously, many links pointed to an involvement of the FOXP2-driven network in JAK/STAT signaling and the regulation of the ezrin-radixin-moesin complex. Altogether, the applied phylogenetic perspective substantiated FOXP2's importance for nervous system development, maintenance, and functioning. However, the study also disclosed new regulatory pathways that might prove to be useful for understanding the molecular background of the aforementioned developmental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franz Oswald
- Center for Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine I, University Medical Center UlmUlm, Germany
| | - Patricia Klöble
- Center for Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine I, University Medical Center UlmUlm, Germany
| | - André Ruland
- Center for Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine I, University Medical Center UlmUlm, Germany
| | - David Rosenkranz
- Institut für Organismische und Molekulare Evolutionsbiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-University MainzMainz, Germany
| | - Bastian Hinz
- Institut für Organismische und Molekulare Evolutionsbiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-University MainzMainz, Germany
- Institute of Human Genetics, University Medical Center MainzMainz, Germany
| | - Falk Butter
- Institute of Molecular BiologyMainz, Germany
| | | | - Ulrich Zechner
- Institute of Human Genetics, University Medical Center MainzMainz, Germany
- Dr. Senckenbergisches Zentrum für HumangenetikFrankfurt, Germany
| | - Holger Herlyn
- Institut für Organismische und Molekulare Evolutionsbiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-University MainzMainz, Germany
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Bruner E. Language, Paleoneurology, and the Fronto-Parietal System. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:349. [PMID: 28713257 PMCID: PMC5491953 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2017] [Accepted: 06/20/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Emiliano Bruner
- Programa de Paleobiología, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución HumanaBurgos, Spain
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Benítez-Burraco A, Lattanzi W, Murphy E. Language Impairments in ASD Resulting from a Failed Domestication of the Human Brain. Front Neurosci 2016; 10:373. [PMID: 27621700 PMCID: PMC5002430 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2016.00373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2016] [Accepted: 08/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are pervasive neurodevelopmental disorders entailing social and cognitive deficits, including marked problems with language. Numerous genes have been associated with ASD, but it is unclear how language deficits arise from gene mutation or dysregulation. It is also unclear why ASD shows such high prevalence within human populations. Interestingly, the emergence of a modern faculty of language has been hypothesized to be linked to changes in the human brain/skull, but also to the process of self-domestication of the human species. It is our intention to show that people with ASD exhibit less marked domesticated traits at the morphological, physiological, and behavioral levels. We also discuss many ASD candidates represented among the genes known to be involved in the “domestication syndrome” (the constellation of traits exhibited by domesticated mammals, which seemingly results from the hypofunction of the neural crest) and among the set of genes involved in language function closely connected to them. Moreover, many of these genes show altered expression profiles in the brain of autists. In addition, some candidates for domestication and language-readiness show the same expression profile in people with ASD and chimps in different brain areas involved in language processing. Similarities regarding the brain oscillatory behavior of these areas can be expected too. We conclude that ASD may represent an abnormal ontogenetic itinerary for the human faculty of language resulting in part from changes in genes important for the “domestication syndrome” and, ultimately, from the normal functioning of the neural crest.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Wanda Lattanzi
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Rome, Italy
| | - Elliot Murphy
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London London, UK
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Rome was not built in one day: Underlying biological and cognitive factors responsible for the emergence of agriculture and ultrasociality. Behav Brain Sci 2016; 39:e100. [PMID: 27562680 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x15001065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Agriculture represented a major transition in human evolution, but the appearance of ultrasociality must have included previous steps. We argue that ultrasociality would not have suddenly emerged with agriculture, but rather developed from pre-existing cognitive and social mechanisms. Discussions must include necessary depth about the historical origins of human ultrasociality, and agriculture's aftereffects on large-scale social organization.
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Murphy E, Benítez-Burraco A. Bridging the Gap between Genes and Language Deficits in Schizophrenia: An Oscillopathic Approach. Front Hum Neurosci 2016; 10:422. [PMID: 27601987 PMCID: PMC4993770 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2016] [Accepted: 08/08/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia is characterized by marked language deficits, but it is not clear how these deficits arise from the alteration of genes related to the disease. The goal of this paper is to aid the bridging of the gap between genes and schizophrenia and, ultimately, give support to the view that the abnormal presentation of language in this condition is heavily rooted in the evolutionary processes that brought about modern language. To that end we will focus on how the schizophrenic brain processes language and, particularly, on its distinctive oscillatory profile during language processing. Additionally, we will show that candidate genes for schizophrenia are overrepresented among the set of genes that are believed to be important for the evolution of the human faculty of language. These genes crucially include (and are related to) genes involved in brain rhythmicity. We will claim that this translational effort and the links we uncover may help develop an understanding of language evolution, along with the etiology of schizophrenia, its clinical/linguistic profile, and its high prevalence among modern populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elliot Murphy
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London London, UK
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Jiménez-Romero MS, Barcos-Martínez M, Espejo-Portero I, Benítez-Burraco A. Language Impairment Resulting from a de novo Deletion of 7q32.1q33. Mol Syndromol 2016; 7:292-298. [PMID: 27867345 DOI: 10.1159/000448208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/20/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
We report on a girl who presents with hearing loss, behavioral disturbances (according to the Inventory for Client and Agency Planning) as well as motor and cognitive delay (according to Battelle Developmental Inventories) which have a significant impact on her speech and language abilities [according to the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (ed 3), and the Prueba de Lenguaje Oral de Navarra-Revisada (Navarra Oral Language Test, Revised)]. Five copy number variations (CNVs) were identified in the child: arr[hg18] 7q32.1q33(127109685-132492196)×1, 8p23.1(7156900-7359099) ×1, 15q13.1(26215673-26884937)×1, Xp22.33(17245- 102434)×3, and Xp22.33(964441-965024)×3. The pathogenicity of similar CNVs is mostly reported as unknown. The largest deletion is found in a hot spot for cognitive disease and language impairment and contains several genes involved in brain development and function, many of which have been related to developmental disorders encompassing language deficits (dyslexia, speech-sound disorder, and autism). Some of these genes interact with FOXP2. The proband's phenotype may result from a reduced expression of some of these genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- María S Jiménez-Romero
- Department of Psychology, University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain; Maimónides Institute of Biomedical Research, University Hospital 'Reina Sofía', Córdoba, Spain
| | - Montserrat Barcos-Martínez
- Maimónides Institute of Biomedical Research, University Hospital 'Reina Sofía', Córdoba, Spain; Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, University Hospital 'Reina Sofía', Córdoba, Spain
| | - Isabel Espejo-Portero
- Maimónides Institute of Biomedical Research, University Hospital 'Reina Sofía', Córdoba, Spain; Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, University Hospital 'Reina Sofía', Córdoba, Spain
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Benítez-Burraco A, Murphy E. The Oscillopathic Nature of Language Deficits in Autism: From Genes to Language Evolution. Front Hum Neurosci 2016; 10:120. [PMID: 27047363 PMCID: PMC4796018 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2015] [Accepted: 03/07/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are pervasive neurodevelopmental disorders involving a number of deficits to linguistic cognition. The gap between genetics and the pathophysiology of ASD remains open, in particular regarding its distinctive linguistic profile. The goal of this article is to attempt to bridge this gap, focusing on how the autistic brain processes language, particularly through the perspective of brain rhythms. Due to the phenomenon of pleiotropy, which may take some decades to overcome, we believe that studies of brain rhythms, which are not faced with problems of this scale, may constitute a more tractable route to interpreting language deficits in ASD and eventually other neurocognitive disorders. Building on recent attempts to link neural oscillations to certain computational primitives of language, we show that interpreting language deficits in ASD as oscillopathic traits is a potentially fruitful way to construct successful endophenotypes of this condition. Additionally, we will show that candidate genes for ASD are overrepresented among the genes that played a role in the evolution of language. These genes include (and are related to) genes involved in brain rhythmicity. We hope that the type of steps taken here will additionally lead to a better understanding of the comorbidity, heterogeneity, and variability of ASD, and may help achieve a better treatment of the affected populations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Elliot Murphy
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College LondonLondon, UK
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Matchin W, Hickok G. 'Syntactic Perturbation' During Production Activates the Right IFG, but not Broca's Area or the ATL. Front Psychol 2016; 7:241. [PMID: 26941692 PMCID: PMC4763068 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2015] [Accepted: 02/05/2016] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Research on the neural organization of syntax - the core structure-building component of language - has focused on Broca's area and the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) as the chief candidates for syntactic processing. However, these proposals have received considerable challenges. In order to better understand the neural basis of syntactic processing, we performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment using a constrained sentence production task. We examined the BOLD response to sentence production for active and passive sentences, unstructured word lists, and syntactic perturbation. Perturbation involved cued restructuring of the planned syntax of a sentence mid utterance. Perturbation was designed to capture the effects of syntactic violations previously studied in sentence comprehension. Our experiment showed that Broca's area and the ATL did not exhibit response profiles consistent with syntactic operations - we found no increase of activation in these areas for sentences > lists or for perturbation. Syntactic perturbation activated a cortical-subcortical network including robust activation of the right inferior frontal gyrus (RIFG). This network is similar to one previously shown to be involved in motor response inhibition. We hypothesize that RIFG activation in our study and in previous studies of sentence comprehension is due to an inhibition mechanism that may facilitate efficient syntactic restructuring.
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Affiliation(s)
- William Matchin
- Cognitive Neuroscience of Language Laboratory, Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland, College Park MD, USA
| | - Gregory Hickok
- Auditory and Language Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine CA, USA
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Leivada E. Vision, language and a protective mechanism towards psychosis. Neurosci Lett 2016; 617:178-81. [PMID: 26899155 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2016.02.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2015] [Revised: 01/29/2016] [Accepted: 02/11/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The absence of co-occurrence of schizophrenia with congenital/early blindness (CB) has led to the claim that CB confers protection against schizophrenia. It has recently been shown that the protective effects are particularly reinforced in cases of CB of cortical origin, since cases of CB of peripheral origin and schizophrenia in fact exist. The present work shows that the protection extends to psychosis more broadly and describes the brain basis of the protective mechanism and its relation to the language faculty and the language areas of the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelina Leivada
- Cyprus Acquisition Team, University of Cyprus, 75 Kallipoleos, P.O. Box 20537, 1087 Nicosia, Cyprus.
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Benítez-Burraco A, Uriagereka J. The Immune Syntax Revisited: Opening New Windows on Language Evolution. Front Mol Neurosci 2016; 8:84. [PMID: 26793054 PMCID: PMC4707268 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2015.00084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2015] [Accepted: 12/14/2015] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent research has added new dimensions to our understanding of classical evolution, according to which evolutionary novelties result from gene mutations inherited from parents to offspring. Language is surely one such novelty. Together with specific changes in our genome and epigenome, we suggest that two other (related) mechanisms may have contributed to the brain rewiring underlying human cognitive evolution and, specifically, the changes in brain connectivity that prompted the emergence of our species-specific linguistic abilities: the horizontal transfer of genetic material by viral and non-viral vectors and the brain/immune system crosstalk (more generally, the dialogue between the microbiota, the immune system, and the brain).
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Juan Uriagereka
- Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland College Park, MD, USA
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Irurtzun A. The "Globularization Hypothesis" of the Language-ready Brain as a Developmental Frame for Prosodic Bootstrapping Theories of Language Acquisition. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1817. [PMID: 26696916 PMCID: PMC4673306 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2015] [Accepted: 11/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent research (Boeckx and Benítez-Burraco, 2014a,b) have advanced the hypothesis that our species-specific language-ready brain should be understood as the outcome of developmental changes that occurred in our species after the split from Neanderthals-Denisovans, which resulted in a more globular braincase configuration in comparison to our closest relatives, who had elongated endocasts. According to these authors, the development of a globular brain is an essential ingredient for the language faculty and in particular, it is the centrality occupied by the thalamus in a globular brain that allows its modulatory or regulatory role, essential for syntactico-semantic computations. Their hypothesis is that the syntactico-semantic capacities arise in humans as a consequence of a process of globularization, which significantly takes place postnatally (cf. Neubauer et al., 2010). In this paper, I show that Boeckx and Benítez-Burraco's hypothesis makes an interesting developmental prediction regarding the path of language acquisition: it teases apart the onset of phonological acquisition and the onset of syntactic acquisition (the latter starting significantly later, after globularization). I argue that this hypothesis provides a developmental rationale for the prosodic bootstrapping hypothesis of language acquisition (cf. i.a. Gleitman and Wanner, 1982; Mehler et al., 1988, et seq.; Gervain and Werker, 2013), which claim that prosodic cues are employed for syntactic parsing. The literature converges in the observation that a large amount of such prosodic cues (in particular, rhythmic cues) are already acquired before the completion of the globularization phase, which paves the way for the premises of the prosodic bootstrapping hypothesis, allowing babies to have a rich knowledge of the prosody of their target language before they can start parsing the primary linguistic data syntactically.
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