BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Twitter evolution: Birdsong\, speech and language - Johan Bolhuis 
 (Utrecht University)
DTSTART:20171123T163000Z
DTEND:20171123T183000Z
UID:TALK94762@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Giulia Bovolenta
DESCRIPTION:A major stumbling block for the comparative analysis of langua
 ge evolution is that\, so far\, there is no evidence for human-like langua
 ge syntax in any non-human species. There is no a priori reason why a vers
 ion of such a combinatorial computational system could not have evolved in
  non-human animals\, either through common descent (e.g.\, apes) or conver
 gent evolution (e.g.\, songbirds). Although the auditory-vocal domain is j
 ust one possible external interface for language (with signing being anoth
 er)\, it could be argued that the strongest animal candidates for human-li
 ke syntax are songbirds and parrots. This is because they exhibit vocal im
 itation learning\, a trait that is shared with certain marine mammals and 
 hummingbirds\, but that is absent in our closest relatives\, the great ape
 s. There are striking behavioural similarities between auditory-vocal lear
 ning in human infants and in songbirds. In both cases\, auditory learning 
 takes place during a sensitive period early in development\, and there is 
 a transitional period of early vocalisation which is called ‘babbling’
  in humans and ‘subsong’ in birds. At the neural level\, songbirds hav
 e ‘Broca-like’ brain regions involved in the production of song as wel
 l as in sensorimotor learning\, and ‘Wernicke-like’ regions involved i
 n auditory perception and memory. Furthermore\, these regions exhibit patt
 erns of hemispheric lateralisation that are very similar to those in human
  speech- and language related regions. Finally\, there are interesting par
 allels regarding certain genes that are involved in vocalisation. Although
  birdsong can be quite complex\, contrary to recent suggestions\, to date 
 there is no evidence to suggest that birdsong patterns exhibit the hierarc
 hical syntactic structure that characterizes human language. Considering t
 he evidence\, an evolutionary scenario emerges where three factors are imp
 ortant. First\, there is neural homology\, where similar brain regions are
  involved in auditory learning and vocal production\, not only in songbird
 s and humans\, but also in other mammals. Second\, there is evolutionary c
 onvergence with regard to the mechanisms of auditory-vocal learning\, whic
 h proceeds in essentially the same way in songbirds and human infants\, bu
 t not in non-human primates. Third\, as yet there is no evidence to sugges
 t that non-human animals possess the combinatorial complexity of human lan
 guage syntax. It may be that the neural mechanisms that evolved from a com
 mon ancestor\, combined with the auditory-vocal learning ability that evol
 ved in both humans and songbirds\, contributed to the emergence of languag
 e uniquely in the human lineage. \n
LOCATION:GR-06/7\, Faculty of English\, 9 West Rd (Sidgwick Site)
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR