Scientists decode possible origin of human speech
New York, July 23: Researchers have discovered neural circuits in the brains of rhesus macaque monkeys that could represent a common origin for social communication, including human speech.
The findings showed that these circuits are involved in face recognition, facial expression and emotion and they may very well have given rise to our singular capacity for speech.
The team, from the Rockefeller University in New York City, used a novel experimental setup to take MRI scans of the brains of monkeys as they watched video clips of other monkeys making communicative facial expressions.
When the monkeys in the clips made a friendly lip-smacking gesture, the subject monkeys responded in kind -- but only when their pre-recorded peers appeared to be making direct eye contact with them.
Besides, the face-perception regions of the monkeys' brains that simply feed information to a region associated with emotion did not shuttle information to one another in straightforward, sequential fashion, said Winrich Freiwald, scientists at the varsity.
The videos that simulated social interaction through direct eye contact caused an unexpected third neural circuit to light up.
This suggests that specific areas of the animals' brains are sensitive to social context, and perform the specialised cognitive functions necessary for social communication.
Generating a friendly lipsmack, in particular, activated a region that resembles Broca's area -- a portion of the human brain concerned with the production of speech.
This suggests that monkey facial expressions like lipsmacks might be evolutionary precursors to human speech -- a possibility that some scientists had previously discounted on the grounds that such gestures were too simple or reflexive to pave the way for something as subtle and sophisticated as human verbal communication, Freiwald explained, in the paper reported in the journal Neuron.
Currently, the researchers are measuring the electrical activity in individual neurons in all three of the networks revealed in the scans.
"Understanding this in monkeys will help us understand communication in humans, where things are so much more complicated," says Freiwald, who describes the findings as "an important building block" in the quest to understand our species' unique way with words.
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
