How language evolved from manual gestures

Gesture ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Corballis
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Nonhuman Primates ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Present Level ◽  
Cerebral Asymmetry ◽  
Hominin Evolution ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

Several lines of evidence suggest that human language originated in manual gestures, not vocal calls. These are the ability of nonhuman primates to use manual action flexibly and intentionally, the nature of the primate mirror system and its homology with the language circuits in the human brain, the relative success in teaching apes to communicate manually rather than vocally, the ready invention of sophisticated signed languages by the deaf, the critical role of pointing in the way young children learn language, and the correlation between handedness and cerebral asymmetry for language. A gradual switch from manual to facial and vocal expression may have occurred late in hominin evolution, with speech reaching its present level of autonomy only in our own species, Homo sapiens.

Critical Role of ABCG2 in ALA-Photodynamic Diagnosis and Therapy of Human Brain Tumor

2015 ◽  
pp. 197-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshihisa Ishikawa ◽  
Yoshinaga Kajimoto ◽  
Yutaka Inoue ◽  
Yoji Ikegami ◽  
Toshihiko Kuroiwa
Keyword(s):  
Brain Tumor ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Photodynamic Diagnosis ◽  
Human Brain Tumor ◽  
Diagnosis And Therapy

Convergent lines of evidence support NOTCH4 as a schizophrenia risk gene

2020 ◽  
pp. jmedgenet-2020-106830
Author(s):  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Shiwu Li ◽  
Xiaoyan Li ◽  
Yongfeng Yang ◽  
Wenqiang Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Eqtl Analysis ◽  
Risk Gene ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Eqtl Data ◽  
Lines Of Evidence ◽  
Brain Tissues

The association between NOTCH4 and schizophrenia has been repeatedly reported. However, the results from different genetic studies are inconsistent, and the role of NOTCH4 in schizophrenia pathogenesis remains unknown. Here, we provide convergent lines of evidence that support NOTCH4 as a schizophrenia risk gene. We first performed a meta-analysis and found that a genetic variant (rs2071287) in NOTCH4 was significantly associated with schizophrenia (a total of 125 848 subjects, p=8.31×10−17), with the same risk allele across all tested samples. Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis showed that rs2071287 was significantly associated with NOTCH4 expression (p=1.08×10−14) in human brain tissues, suggesting that rs2071287 may confer schizophrenia risk through regulating NOTCH4 expression. Sherlock integrative analysis using a large-scale schizophrenia GWAS and eQTL data from human brain tissues further revealed that NOTCH4 was significantly associated with schizophrenia (p=4.03×10−7 in CMC dataset and p=3.06×10−6 in xQTL dataset), implying that genetic variants confer schizophrenia risk through modulating NOTCH4 expression. Consistently, we found that NOTCH4 was significantly downregulated in brains of schizophrenia patients compared with controls (p=2.53×10−3), further suggesting that dysregulation of NOTCH4 may have a role in schizophrenia. Finally, we showed that NOTCH4 regulates proliferation, self-renewal, differentiation and migration of neural stem cells, suggesting that NOTCH4 may confer schizophrenia risk through affecting neurodevelopment. Our study provides convergent lines of evidence that support the involvement of NOTCH4 in schizophrenia. In addition, our study also elucidates a possible mechanism for the role of NOTCH4 in schizophrenia pathogenesis.

scholarly journals Human Language as a Natural Artifact of Planetary-Noospheric Mind: Coevolutionary-Macromutational Reinterpretation

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (34) ◽  
pp. 17-23
Author(s):  
Roman Vasko ◽  
Alla Korolyova ◽  
Tetiana Tolcheyeva ◽  
Yan Kapranov
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Subsequent Stage ◽  
Human Language ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Fusion Theory ◽  
New Hypothesis

The article discusses a new hypothesis of coevolutionary-macromutational origin of human language, through the prism of which this planetary-noospheric phenomenon is proposed to be considered as a natural artifact of holisticsynergetic coevolution of nature, society and culture. The following assumption has been suggested: the proposed hypothetical idea is a resonance of the former two philosophical theories: the fusion theory and the thesis theory, which were regarded by scientists either as natural or artificial (conventional / conditional) nature of human language. At the same time, they did not completely deny the origin of the human language as a result of various types of activities. The represented arguments helped to confirm the views of anthropologists, culturologists and other scholars. The creation of various artifacts (tangible and intangible) took place in all stages of evolution: geogenesis – biogenesis – psychogenesis – anthropogenesis and at a subsequent stage of Homo sapiens. However, language as the most important product of global evolutionism was formed at the stage of anthropogenesis, in particular as a corollary to the molecular mutations of human brain. The term “coevolution” has been transferred to the sphere of linguoanthropogenesis. In conjunction with the hypothesis of macromutation the natural artifact origin of human language is consistently explained under the scenario of biogenesis – sociogenesis – culturogenesis. The essence of the hypothetical result is that a qualitatively new driving force for the continuation of this scenario can be noospherogenesis, which is determined by historical and cultural development of mankind, its activities in all spheres of life and, most importantly, by the planetary high-tech mind.

scholarly journals Models of communication and control for brain networks: distinctions, convergence, and future outlook

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 1122-1159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pragya Srivastava ◽  
Erfan Nozari ◽  
Jason Z. Kim ◽  
Harang Ju ◽  
Dale Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Signal Propagation ◽  
Network Control ◽  
And Control ◽  
Future Work

Recent advances in computational models of signal propagation and routing in the human brain have underscored the critical role of white-matter structure. A complementary approach has utilized the framework of network control theory to better understand how white matter constrains the manner in which a region or set of regions can direct or control the activity of other regions. Despite the potential for both of these approaches to enhance our understanding of the role of network structure in brain function, little work has sought to understand the relations between them. Here, we seek to explicitly bridge computational models of communication and principles of network control in a conceptual review of the current literature. By drawing comparisons between communication and control models in terms of the level of abstraction, the dynamical complexity, the dependence on network attributes, and the interplay of multiple spatiotemporal scales, we highlight the convergence of and distinctions between the two frameworks. Based on the understanding of the intertwined nature of communication and control in human brain networks, this work provides an integrative perspective for the field and outlines exciting directions for future work.

scholarly journals The Critical Role of Nonhuman Primates in Medical Research - White Paper

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Friedman ◽  
Nancy Haigwood ◽  
Nancy Ator ◽  
William Newsome ◽  
James S. Allan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Research ◽  
Nonhuman Primates ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Current Medical Research ◽  
White Paper ◽  
Current Medical ◽  
Human Suffering

Research with nonhuman primates (NHPs) – monkeys for the most part – has led to critical health advances that have saved or improved millions of human lives. While NHPs account for just one-half of one percent of animals in current medical research, it is no exaggeration to say they are essential to our ability to find cures for cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, obesity/diabetes, and dozens of other diseases that cause human suffering and death.

scholarly journals Human Evolution in the Center of the Old World: An Updated Review of the South Asian Paleolithic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parth R. Chauhan
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Hominin Evolution ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
Absolute Dating

The Indian Subcontinent was an important geographic region for faunal and hominin evolution in Asia. While the Oldowan as the earliest technocomplex continues to be elusive, the oldest Acheulean is dated to ~1.5 Ma and the early Middle Paleolithic is ~385 ka (from the same site). New Late Pleistocene dates have been reported for the Middle Paleolithic which continues up to 38 Ka in southern India. The Upper Paleolithic remains ambiguous and requires critically multidisciplinary investigations. The microlithic evidence appears to spread rapidly across the subcontinent soon after its emergence at ~48 Ka (though its origin is debated) and continues into the Iron Age. The timeline of the initial arrival of Homo sapiens continues to be debated based on the archaeology (advanced Middle Paleolithic vs. microlithic) and genetic studies on indigenous groups. Other issues that need consideration are: interactions between archaics and arriving moderns, the marginal occurrence of symbolic behavior, the absolute dating of rock art and the potential role of hominins in specific animal extinctions and ecological marginalization. The region does not appear to have been a corridor for dispersals towards Southeast Asia (although gene flow may have occurred). Instead, once various prehistoric technologies appeared in the Subcontinent, they possibly followed complex trajectories within relative isolation.

The Membrane Lipid Cholesterol Modulates Anesthetic Actions on a Human Brain Ion Channel 

1995 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 749-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benno Rehberg ◽  
Bernd W. Urban ◽  
Daniel S. Duch
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Sodium Channels ◽  
Lipid Composition ◽  
Membrane Lipids ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Cholesterol Content ◽  
Membrane Lipid ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
The Impact

Background Molecular theories of general anesthesia often are divided into two categories: (1) Anesthetics may bind specifically to proteins, such as ionic channels, and alter their function directly, and (2) anesthetics may alter the functions of integral membrane proteins indirectly through modification of the physical properties of the membrane. Recent studies have provided evidence that anesthetics can bind to proteins and modify their function directly, bringing into question the role of the membrane in anesthetic interactions. To reexamine the role of membrane lipids in anesthetic interactions, an experimental approach was used in which the membrane lipid composition could be systematically altered and the impact on anesthetic interactions with potential targets examined. Methods Sodium channels from human brain cortex were incorporated into planar lipid bilayers with increasing cholesterol content. The anesthetic suppression of these channels by pentobarbital was quantitatively examined by single channel measurements under voltage-clamp conditions. Results Changes in cholesterol content had no effect on measured channel properties in the absence of anesthetic. In the presence of pentobarbital, however, cholesterol inhibited anesthetic suppression of channel ionic currents, with 1.9% (weight/weight, corresponding to 3.5 mol%) cholesterol decreasing anesthetic suppression of sodium channels by half. Conclusions These results support a critical role for the lipid membrane in some anesthetic actions and further indicate that differences in lipid composition must be considered in the interpretation of results when comparing the anesthetic potencies of potential targets in model systems.

scholarly journals Binding space and time through action

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1805) ◽  
pp. 20150381 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Binetti ◽  
N. Hagura ◽  
C. Fadipe ◽  
A. Tomassini ◽  
V. Walsh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Grip Force ◽  
The Other ◽  
Temporal Profile ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Hand Grip ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Lines Of Evidence ◽  
Instrumental Role

Space and time are intimately coupled dimensions in the human brain. Several lines of evidence suggest that space and time are processed by a shared analogue magnitude system. It has been proposed that actions are instrumental in establishing this shared magnitude system. Here we provide evidence in support of this hypothesis, by showing that the interaction between space and time is enhanced when magnitude information is acquired through action. Participants observed increases or decreases in the height of a visual bar (spatial magnitude) while judging whether a simultaneously presented sequence of acoustic tones had accelerated or decelerated (temporal magnitude). In one condition (Action), participants directly controlled the changes in bar height with a hand grip device, whereas in the other (No Action), changes in bar height were externally controlled but matched the spatial/temporal profile of the Action condition. The sign of changes in bar height biased the perceived rate of the tone sequences, where increases in bar height produced apparent increases in tone rate. This effect was amplified when the visual bar was actively controlled in the Action condition, and the strength of the interaction was scaled by the magnitude of the action. Subsequent experiments ruled out that this was simply explained by attentional factors, and additionally showed that a monotonic mapping is also required between grip force and bar height in order to bias the perception of the tones. These data provide support for an instrumental role of action in interfacing spatial and temporal quantities in the brain.

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