A Brain for Speech: A View from Evolutionary Neuroanatomy

by Francisco Aboitiz

Overview

This book discusses evolution of the human brain, the origin of speech and language. It covers past and present perspectives on the contentious issue of the acquisition of the language capacity. Divided into two parts, this insightful work covers several characteristics of the human brain including the language-specific network, the size of the human brain, its lateralization of functions and interhemispheric integration, in particular the phonological loop. Aboitiz argues that it is the phonological loop that allowed us to increase our vocal memory capacity and to generate a shared semantic space that gave rise to modern language. The second part examines the neuroanatomy of the monkey brain, vocal learning birds like parrots, emergent evidence of vocal learning capacities in mammals, mirror neurons, and the ecological and social context in which speech evolved in our early ancestors. This book's interdisciplinary topic will appeal to scholars of psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, biology and history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137540591
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	07/14/2017
Edition description:	2017
Pages:	505
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Francisco Aboitiz is Professor of the Psychiatry Department at the Medical School, and Director of the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Center at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He has published more than 100 scientific papers on evolution, neuroscience and neuropsychiatry.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The beginning of words.- 1. Pandora’s box.- 2. A matter of size.- 3. Broken symmetry.- 4. Bridging hemispheres.- 5. A loop for speech.- 6. Monkey brain, human brain.- 7. Grasping mirrors.- 8. Of birds and men.- 9. Talking heads.- 10. Taming ourselves.- Epilogue.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“The evolution of human speech processing has been discussed from many perspectives…Aboitiz, a leading expert on human anatomy, now offers a welcome and well-written perspective that builds on deep knowledge of anatomic detail to argue how human speech and language may arise from the cognitive and sensorimotor building blocks underpinning hominid evolution. The evolutionary narrative developed provides a provocative angle on how the domains of gesture, speech, and working memory interact in the evolution of speech.” (David Poeppel - Director, Department of Neuroscience, Max-Planck-Institute For Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt & Professor of Psychology and Neural Science, New York University)

“Francisco Aboitiz’s masterly “A Brain for Speech” will be obligatory reading for all those interested in language evolution who wish to take the brain seriously. It combines comparative neuroanatomy, detailed historical reviews, and a thorough assessment of rival theories while placing special emphasis on the phonological loop.” (Michael A. Arbib - Professor of Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Southern California)

“Aboitiz takes a broad journey through contemporary Neuroscience spanning from molecular mechanisms of brain development to neuropsychology of memory and evolution. The target is language, one of the most enigmatic faculties of the brain, possibly defining the human being, while defying his understanding. The outcome is an interesting perspective on where Neuroscience might be heading.” (Giorgio Innocenti, Professor at the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden and at the Brain and Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland)

Editorial Reviews

This book presents an ambitious combination of evolution and neuroscience applied to language development. … A curated bibliography and subject/author indexes round out the scholarly apparatus; overall, a compelling exploration that merges psychology, neurology, linguistics, and evolutionary biology. … Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, and professionals.” (J. A. Mather, Choice, Vol. 56 (1), September, 2018)

“This book is dense in up-to-date factual information. … Aboitiz indicates that the book is intended primarily for undergraduates and graduate students, the detailed content would be intimidating to most students. It is more appropriate for use as a reference source by researchers and other specialists interested in language.” (James W. Kalat, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 62 (49), December, 2017)

From the Publisher