Why Humans Can Talk And Chimps Can't

Nothing to say (IMAGE: Manfred Rutz/Rex Features)

From New Scientist:

A brain region critical to speech and language ballooned after humans split from chimpanzees, a new study finds.

Named after French physician, Pierre Paul Broca, who identified the region in two brain-damaged patients incapable of uttering more than a few words, Broca's area usually occupies a much larger portion of the left half of the human brain than the right.

Because right-handed humans also tend to process language in their left halves – lefties' brain are flip-flopped – some researchers think that lop-sidedness in Broca's area may help explain why humans alone developed language.

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Dolphin Body Language 'Follows Human Verbal Communication'

Dolphins inspect a tiger cub at a safari park in Shenzhen, China. Scientists have discovered that the mammals' body language follows human rules of verbal communication. Photo: BARCROFT MEDIA

From The Telegraph:

Dolphin body language follows human rules of verbal communication, scientists have discovered.

As a general rule, the most frequently used words in human languages tend to be the shortest.

The same law applies to dolphins slapping their tails, diving, flopping sideways, and performing other movements when surface swimming, according to Spanish and British researchers.

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Language Learning Deciphered

A 9-month-old Finnish girl listend to the sounds of English, Finnish and Mandarin Chinese while in a MEG machine. New research shows just how children's brains can become bilingual so easily, and scientists are trying to turn those findings into technology that helps adults learn a new language a bit easier. (AP/University of Washington)

From Stltoday:

WASHINGTON -- The best time to learn a foreign language: Between birth and age 7. Missed that window?

New research is showing just how children's brains can become bilingual so easily, findings that scientists hope eventually could help the rest of us learn a new language a bit easier.

"We think the magic that kids apply to this learning situation, some of the principles, can be imported into learning programs for adults," says Dr. Patricia Kuhl of the University of Washington, who is part of an international team now trying to turn those lessons into more teachable technology.

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Language May Be Key To Theory Of Mind

From New Scientist:

How blind and deaf people approach a cognitive test regarded as a milestone in human development has provided clues to how we deduce what others are thinking.

Understanding another person's perspective, and realising that it can differ from our own, is known as theory of mind. It underpins empathy, communication and the ability to deceiveMovie Camera – all of which we take for granted. Although our theory of mind is more developed than it is in other animals, we don't acquire it until around age four, and how it develops is a mystery.

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