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Why vocal production of atypical sounds in apes and its cerebral correlates have a lot to say about the origin of language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2014

Adrien Meguerditchian ,
Jared P. Taglialatela ,
David A. Leavens  and
William D. Hopkins
Adrien Meguerditchian
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Cognitive Psychology, UMR7290, Aix-Marseille University – CNRS, Brain and Language Research Institute, 13331 Marseille, France. adrien.meguerditchian@univ-amu.fr http://gsite.univ-provence.fr/gsite/document.php?pagendx=12531&project=lpc
Jared P. Taglialatela
Affiliation:
Department of Biology and Physics, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144. jtaglial@kennesaw.edu http://science.kennesaw.edu/~jtaglial/Taglialatela_-_Ape_Communication_Lab/Home.html Division of Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA 30329. whopkin@emory.edu
David A. Leavens
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9QH, England, United Kingdom. davidl@sussex.ac.uk http://www.sussex.ac.uk/profiles/114996
William D. Hopkins
Affiliation:
Division of Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA 30329. whopkin@emory.edu Neuroscience Institute and Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302. http://neuroscience.gsu.edu/profile/william-hopkins/
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Abstract

Ackermann et al. mention the “acquisition of species-atypical sounds” in apes without any discussion. In our commentary, we demonstrate that these atypical sounds in chimpanzees not only include laryngeal sounds, but also have a major significance regarding the origins of language, if we consider looking at their context of use, their social properties, their relations with gestures, their lateralization, and their neurofunctional correlates as well.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 6 , December 2014 , pp. 565 - 566
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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