Work

Globularity and language-readiness: generating new predictions by expanding the set of genes of interest

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: This study builds on the hypothesis put forth in Boeckx and Benítez-Burraco (2014), according to which the developmental changes expressed at the levels of brain morphology and neural connectivity that resulted in a more globular braincase in our species were crucial to understand the origins of our language-ready brain. Specifically, this paper explores the links between two well-known 'language-related' genes like FOXP2 and ROBO1 implicated in vocal learning and the initial set of genes of interest put forth in Boeckx and Benítez-Burraco (2014), with RUNX2 as focal point. Relying on the existing literature, we uncover potential molecular links that could be of interest to future experimental inquiries into the biological foundations of language and the testing of our initial hypothesis. Our discussion could also be relevant for clinical linguistics and for the interpretation of results from paleogenomics.

Source: Frontiers in Psychology

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01324

Authors: Cedric Boeckx, Antonio BenÃtez-Burraco

Institutions: Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Universitat de Barcelona, Universidad de Huelva

Language: English

Topic: Language and cultural evolution

Subfield: Cultural Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,801

Funders: European Commission, Fundació Bosch i Gimpera