English
 
Help Privacy Policy Disclaimer
  Advanced SearchBrowse

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT

Released

Journal Article

Morphological evolution of language-relevant brain areas

MPS-Authors
/persons/resource/persons238972

Gallardo,  Guillermo       
Department Neuropsychology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons39190

Eichner,  Cornelius       
Department Neuropsychology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons19530

Anwander,  Alfred       
Department Neuropsychology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons19643

Friederici,  Angela D.       
Department Neuropsychology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Society;

Fulltext (restricted access)
There are currently no full texts shared for your IP range.
Fulltext (public)

Gallardo_2023.pdf
(Publisher version), 3MB

Gallardo_Eichner_pre.pdf
(Preprint), 3MB

Supplementary Material (public)

Gallardo_2023_Suppl.docx
(Supplementary material), 10KB

Gallardo_2023_Suppl1.docx
(Supplementary material), 31KB

Citation

Gallardo, G., Eichner, C., Sherwood, C. C., Hopkins, W. D., Anwander, A., & Friederici, A. D. (2023). Morphological evolution of language-relevant brain areas. PLoS Biology, 21(9): e3002266. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3002266.


Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000D-B44C-3
Abstract
Human language is supported by a cortical network involving Broca's area, which comprises Brodmann Areas 44 and 45 (BA44 and BA45). While cytoarchitectonic homolog areas have been identified in nonhuman primates, it remains unknown how these regions evolved to support human language. Here, we use histological data and advanced cortical registration methods to precisely compare the morphology of BA44 and BA45 in humans and chimpanzees. We found a general expansion of Broca's areas in humans, with the left BA44 enlarging the most, growing anteriorly into a region known to process syntax. Together with recent functional and receptorarchitectural studies, our findings support the conclusion that BA44 evolved from an action-related region to a bipartite system, with a posterior portion supporting action and an anterior portion supporting syntactic processes. Our findings add novel insights to the longstanding debate on the relationship between language and action, and the evolution of Broca's area.