Naomy-Roxanne Valdez-Gil

Professor Gray Miles

Knowledge : Neuroscience 101 Sect. 00025
Submitted December 8th, 2014
Neuroscience of Language
We tend to take the use of language for granted. But language, as simple and natural as it may
seem to be, is actually an extremely complex process that comes into being in our human brainand
body. Language is the method of human communcation, either spoken, gestured, or written. The field
of neuroscience has been increasingly gaining popularity over the past decade, and has grown
considerably along with it. Neuroscientists have started tackling many different ranges of subjects at
the present time, one of the many compelling ones being the neuroscience of language. One question
that has circulated this topic in neuroscience is: how did language emerge in the human specie, and
why was it necessary for our growth? Language varies greatly from different communities, which
supports how culture-related this form of communication truly is. The use of language in regards to the
human specie not only is the result from evolution, but it is also the product of culture and mirror
neurons.
Early on we considered Darwins Theory of Evolution and its fundamental agent, natural
selection, a clear cause of the emergence of language in the human specie. The natural selection theory
suggests that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor. That is to say, when a
genetic mutation occurs and has beneficial effects to the specie, as it fulfills the needs of the specie, it is
preserved for the reason that it is used as an aid for the specie's survival. Thus, resulting to the
production of off-springs that keep this mutation and pass it on through their own genes. As a result, the
beneficial mutations accumulate and form a completely different organism than the one it had been the
product of. This theory explains why the human specie's genetic code is so closely related to the ones
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of the chimpanzee and bonobo species, and how we have grown separately from these two. In spite of
the fact that the chimpanzees and bonobos are so similar to the homo sapiens, one crucial factor that
greatly differentiates us, the human specie, to those two primates is our use of language. In fact, other
primates do use language, too, but differently. For example, the green vervet monkey will alarm its
comrades whenever danger is presented. However, as Gianfranco Denes, a neurologist of the Ca'
Foscari University of Venice remarks, An important factor differentiating words from the manual or
vocal signs produced by other animal species is that words are not situation specific (Denes 12).
Denes gives the example of how a child uses the word 'cat' to refer to a cat in front of him/her, state
his/her desire to own a cat, ask where the cat may be or point the bowl of said cat. Whereas an animal
uses language when a situation is presented to it. Unlike humans, animals do not understand why some
practices are done; they can only learn how to imitate. One experience was done in order to see if it
was possible for a chimp to become more 'human-like' through raising him just like a human-being and
teaching him sign language. This experience was named Project Nim, but has sadly failed for the
reason that the chimp could not associate practice with its purpose; Nim did not understand why some
practices were done. Thus, explaining in further detail what differentiates humans with animals. As
stated before, we are an extremely social specie that revolves around culture. [T]he human userinterface was created by evolution, both biological and cultural, and it arose in response to a behavioral
innovation: the activity of communicating beliefs and plans, and comparing notes (Dennett 259). All
this through the use of language. Indeed, language did not just emerge out of nowhere; it is undeniably
a result of evolution. The logic of this eluded most people. Even the simplest act of talking about how
language evolved was highly taboo. In fact, the Linguistic Society of Paris banned all discussion on the
topic in 1866. Later in the nineteenth century, the topic was more open to the public. It was thought that
language emerged out of the blue, which was supported with the Judeo-Christian belief of human
uniqueness and mental superiority. It also seems to provide convenient explanation for the dramatic
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rise in technology and cultural sophistication in our species, especially over the past 100,000 years
(Coello and Bartolo 35). Indeed, there was a sudden widespread of cave art, clothes and stereotyped
dwellings over the past hundred of thousand of years. But how does this explain our non-changing
brain from 250,000 years ago this huge boom 100,000 years ago in our specie? Again, the answer to
this is that language evolved; it evolved through gestural language. A complex ability such as language
could not have emerged so simply in an evolutionary point of view; it evolved through many small but
impactful changes. There has been a progressive evolution from gestural to vocal communication. One
major factor in the way human communicate supports this theory. It is the fact that manual gesture is
accompanied with speech. Our body follows our unconscious and speaks for itself as a whole, which
could explain why we tend to move our hands when we speak. But, vocal language permits even more
communication of our complex minds. Some sounds such as crying, laughter, or grunting are said to be
the oldest way human communicate, as they share emotions. Denes suggests that the flip from the
quadrupedal to bipedal position greatly affected the switch from gestural to vocal communication. Not
only did it improve the use of tools, but it also changed the human language. He suggests, The
transition from gesture to sound would have come about when the increasing manual manipulation of
objects and tools conflicted with the use of the hands as a communicative instrument... [Speakers] are
unable to communicate and manipulate objects simultaneously (Denes 14). Thus, explaining how
vocal language has emerged in the human specie in order to fit our needs.
We are born to be social. As the human specie's density increased, we had to adapt to being able
to be more social. As social creatures who have evolved in relation to each other, our ways of relating
have shaped us. Indeed, our minds were made for sharing ideas. Thus, we were made for growing as a
cultural group and not just as a single individual who has less chances of surviving. This important
need for the human specie to grow together in order to improve explains why belonging in a
community is crucial to us. As we evolve with our community, culture shapes us. It is culture that
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permits us to rely on each other and makes us grow to help the community flourish. For instance,
chimpanzees uses many different actions such as grass-stroking for flirting and hand clasps in
grooming rituals in order to communicate their intentions. Just like us, they have a language. Not only
do they also have a language, but it may differ among other chimpanzee communities. Indeed, each
group of chimpanzees, despite the similarities in their genes and habitat, choose their hammer
differently, but all have the same goal: to crack a nut. That is no different than the language differences
among different human cultures; needless to say, we all have the same goal: to communicate. As
different communities arise, different cultures develop, too. This suggests that culture existed much
before language, as we need other people to have create language. As language first emerged, it was
transmitted within cultures with the help of memes, a fundamental unit of cultural evolution that has
the goal to reproduce itself as much as possible inside one brain to another. Like memes, culture has
exerted selection pressure in our specie to develop additional mental traits, such as language. Of course,
language did not suddenly emerge as a sophisticated function filled with complex grammar and
meanings. The brain has trained itself to become good at language until now, and is still training to
become even better. The brain has evolved, just like culture. It is no secret that our brain are different
than our ancestors. In our lifetime, each of us learn ancestrally developed skills of history in our heads.
It is no surprise that the human specie has evolved as such experienced social animals that they have
been named the 'Machiavellian primate'; we have become so good at interacting with one another that
we have become experts at reading the intentions of others and predict their behavior. In fact, we are so
social that this trait is clearly seen in young humans. Babies are born empathic as they laugh when they
see happy people, and cry when they see sad people. These babies grow up to be children who share
their toys equally among their peers. Our brain has clearly evolved to be better word processors than
any other specie. In fact, any human infant can learn any language at equal facility. But language, as
useful as it may be for our specie, is not easily preserved. In order for a particular language to persist in
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time, it has to be constantly used and memorized. Thus, supporting the importance of culture, as it is
needed to maintain language, and even spread it.
Furthermore, what has greatly helped us spread language in our communities was through
imitation. Imitation is managed by our mirror neurons, which are found in the premotor cortex, the
supplementary motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex and the inferior parietal cortex. Through
the observation of monkeys, researchers have concluded that the same neurons fire in a monkey's brain
when it is doing something with its hands (pushing, pulling) as when it is observing this action.
Moreover, as humans communicate, the listener's brain mirrors the one of the speaker during a
conversation. All of this with the help of mirror neurons. Again, discoveries help explain how we have
become the 'Machiavellian primate'. They help us understand 'mind-reading', empathy, imitation
learning, and the evolution of language. Therefore, the ability to read someone's intentions and mime
their vocalizations has been a great advance that has helped us develop language in depth, for the
reason that it has greatly improved the ability of our mirror neurons. Indeed, because a neuron fires in
our mind when someone else does something, we can develop 'a theory of other minds', just like
neurons are shared between lovers, a mother & her baby, and twins. The theory of other minds (TOM)
is the ability to introspect our own thoughts and actions and to understand that others have mental
states that are different from one's own. This theory first evolved in response to social needs. Certainly,
mirror neurons are necessary for our culture. Without those neurons, or with fewer, a child can no
longer empathize or understand people emotionally. This helps fight off the 'Nature V.S. Nurture'
debate by implying that without mirror neurons, we would not be smart, whereas without culture, we
would not be able to take advantage of this learnability. Both factors are interdependent of one another.
Thereby, it is highly necessary for us to possess functioning mirror neurons in order to develop
language, and that, with the help of others.
As a final point, neuroscience has greatly advanced towards answering how did language
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emerge in the human specie, and why was it necessary for our growth? by exploring in further detail
the evolution of itall of this, of course, after it was not considered so taboo. Not only has the
neuroscience research of language discovered the importance of culture and how dependent language is
of it, but it has also recognized the significance of mirror neurons and how they play a major role into
the development of human language. So how has this research benefited us? Evidently, it has deepened
our knowledge in the human language development. Besides, that knowledge may help us understand
the human mind more, and how it can influence and be influenced by others around it.
2011 words.

Works Cited
Coello, Yann, and Angela Bartolo. Language and Action in Cognitive Neuroscience. Hove: Psychology
Press, 2013. Online book.
Denes, Gianfranco. Talking Heads: The Neuroscience of Language. Hove: Psychology Press, 2011.
Online book.
Dennett, Daniel C. Freedom Evolves. New York City: Viking Books, 2003. Print.