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SUMMARY:Biology and Language 2007: An EMBL-EBI Science &amp\; Society Symp
 osium - William Marslen-Wilson (Chair)
DTSTART:20070621T120000Z
DTEND:20070621T160000Z
UID:TALK7393@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Alison Meynert
DESCRIPTION:Human language acquisition depends on biological processes as 
 well as learned behaviour. But how did human language evolve\, and how do 
 human babies learn to speak? Language as we know it seems to grow out of i
 nnate structures built into our brain. Humans are the only animals to prod
 uce a complex\, grammatical language that permits intricate representation
 s of the phenomenal world. At the same time\, a debate still rages among a
 cademics on whether our representational ability stems from our overall bi
 ological basis for language or from our generally superior cognitive abili
 ties.\n\nDid human language evolve as a consequence of changes in the ecol
 ogy of the species\, expanded tool use\, social organization\, or some oth
 er evolutionary event? In other words\, is language an adaptation process\
 , evolved in response to some selection process\, or is it a by-product of
  the evolution of other brain functions? As we learn more about the brain 
 processes underlying language\, it seems increasingly unlikely that a sing
 le evolutionary event will explain the emergence of language.\n\nThe neura
 l system underpinning human language capacity is enormously complex and en
 compasses auditory analysis\, conceptualization and memory\, semantic sele
 ction processes\, motor control\, and many other functions. To a large ext
 ent\, these processes are likely to have evolved independently from one an
 other. It is therefore much more probable that the evolution of language w
 ent through several different adaptive events in early human history.\n\nE
 xciting results have been published in recent years by researchers pursuin
 g the study of language from different angles: evolutionary and population
  genetics\, evolutionary psychology\, comparative cognitive studies\, anth
 ropology and linguistics. The aim of this EMBL-EBI Science and Society Sym
 posium is to promote mutual interest\, understanding\, and dialogue beyond
  disciplinary boundaries\, and to engage members of the general public who
  are interested in the complex relationships between biology and language.
 \n\nThis symposium will be chaired by William Marslen-Wilson\, the Unit Di
 rector of the Speech and Language Group\, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences
  Unit\, Cambridge.  It will consist of three talks\, to be followed by a o
 ne hour discussion between the audience\, the speakers\, and the chair.\n\
 n* Biolinguistics: From behaviour to circuits to genes - William Tecumseh 
 Fitch\, School of Psychology\, University of St. Andrews\n* From speech to
  gene - Faraneh Vargha-Khadem\, \nDevelopment Cognitive Neuroscience Unit\
 , Institute of Child Health\, London\n* Molecular evolution of FOXP2\, a g
 ene involved in speech and language - Svante Pääbo\, Department of Genet
 ics\, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology\n\nRegistration i
 s free.  For more information and to register online\, please visit http:/
 /www.ebi.ac.uk/Information/events/biolang.
LOCATION:Robinson College
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