Evolution, brain, and the nature of language
Abstract
Language serves as a cornerstone for human cognition, yet much about its evolution remains puzzling. Recent research on this question parallels Darwin's attempt to explain both the unity of all species and their diversity. What has emerged from this research is that the unified nature of human language arises from a shared, species-specific computational ability. This ability has identifiable correlates in the brain and has remained fixed since the origin of language approximately 100 thousand years ago. Although songbirds share with humans a vocal imitation learning ability, with a similar underlying neural organization, language is uniquely human.
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The capacity for language is estimated to be only about 100,000 years old.
“the capacity for language is estimated to be only about 100,000 years old (Berwick et al., 2013)”
From Stories in Action. (2022) · cites this paper as Berwick et al., 2013
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- Authors
- Berwick, R. C., Friederici, A. D., Chomsky, N., & Bolhuis, J. J.
- Affiliations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Max Planck Society (DE)
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Bolhuis, Johan J.
- Venue
- Trends in Cognitive Sciences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-02
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 89-98
- ISSN
- 1364-6613 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2102506398
- Cited by
- 583
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 49 · 2020: 71 · 2019: 51 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 44 · 2016: 44 · 2015: 81 · 2014: 51 · 2013: 13
- FWCI
- 74.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Trends in Cognitive Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology › Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
- Keywords
- language evolution, human language, brain evolution, songbirds, human cognition
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Brain, Biological Evolution, Humans, Language, Learning, Species Specificity
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