Auditory cognition of environmental and linguistic sounds: The role of onomatopoeias

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This research project has four purposes. 1.To find brain areas which respond to real environmental sounds, onomatopoeias, and nouns of objects. 2.A chimpanzee who understands real sounds but does not understand nouns was trained to understand onomatopoeias. 3.Japanese infants usually acquire onomatopoeias first, and then they learn names of objects. Do we detect this acquisition process with the preferential looking procedure? 4.Sensory aphasics often understand environmental sounds. We may be able to promote understanding language by introducing onomatopoeias. In the present study, a computer program for testing of the understanding of environmental sounds, onomatopoeias and names of objects was developed.Following results were obtained. 1.Onomatopoeias activated wide areas in the temporal cortex where both environmental and linguistic sounds activated. Thus, onomatopoeias bridge a gap between environmental and linguistic sounds. 2.A chimpanzee who understands environmental sounds but unable to understand names of objects learned onomatopoeias of objects. 3.By the preferential looking procedures, we were able to follow the course of development of language understanding : That is, Japanese infants first learn onomatopoeias and then acquire name of objects. 4.We developed a computerized testing system of the understanding of environmental sounds, onomatopoeias and names of objects for sensory aphasics. Onomatopoeias may promote the recovery of linguistic abilities of aphasics.