Communicative signaling activates 'Broca's' homolog in chimpanzees
Communicative signaling activates 'Broca's' homolog in chimpanzees
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DOI：
10.1016/j.cub.2008.01.049
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发表时间：
2008-03-11
期刊：
影响因子：
9.2
通讯作者：
Hopkins, William D.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Taglialatela, Jared P.;Russell, Jamie L.;Hopkins, William D.
布罗卡区（Broca's area）是位于人脑额下回（infarct frontal gyrus，IFG）的一个大脑皮层区域，是与语言运动规划和执行相关的几个关键区域之一。从解剖学上讲，布罗卡区通常在左半球较大，人类的功能成像研究表明，在语言相关任务期间，激活模式明显偏左[1-3]。非人类灵长类动物，特别是黑猩猩，是否拥有一个参与产生自身交流信号的同源区域，以及在多大程度上拥有这个区域，目前还不得而知。在这里，我们表明，部分IFG以及其他皮质和皮质下区域的黑猩猩在生产过程中的通信信号是活跃的。这些发现首次提供了与黑猩猩交流行为产生相关的神经解剖结构的直接证据。在黑猩猩产生交流信号的过程中，左侧IFG与其他皮质和皮质下脑区一起显著激活，这表明人类大脑中语言产生的神经学基础可能存在于人类和黑猩猩的共同祖先中。
Broca's area, a cerebral cortical area located in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) of the human brain, has been identified as one of several critical regions associated with the motor planning and execution of language. Anatomically, Broca's area is most often larger in the left hemisphere, and functional imaging studies in humans indicate significant left-lateralized patterns of activation during language-related tasks [1-3]. If, and to what extent, nonhuman primates, particularly chimpanzees, possess a homologous region that is involved in the production of their own communicative signals remains unknown. Here, we show that portions of the IFG as well as other cortical and subcortical regions in chimpanzees are active during the production of communicative signals. These findings are the first to provide direct evidence of the neuroanatomical structures associated with the production of communicative behaviors in chimpanzees. Significant activation in the left IFG in conjunction with other cortical and subcortical brain areas during the production of communicative signals in chimpanzees suggests that the neurological substrates underlying language production in the human brain may have been present in the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees.