Human evolution; we speak, macaques don't (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, July 11, 2020, 14:52 (1378 days ago) @ David Turell

They don't seem to have the right neural controls:

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6500/155.3?utm_campaign=ec_sci_2020-07-09&am...

The anatomical organization of auditory cortical pathways in nonhuman primates (NHPs) shows remarkable similarities with humans. So why don't NHPs have a more speech-like communication system? Archakov et al. trained macaques to perform an auditory-motor task using a purpose-built piano. Mapping brain activity by functional magnetic resonance imaging showed that sound sequences activated the auditory midbrain and cortex. More importantly, sound sequences that had been learned by self-production also activated motor cortex and basal ganglia. This shows that monkeys can form auditory-motor links and that this is not the reason why they do not speak. Instead, the origin of speech in humans may have required the evolution of a command apparatus that controls the upper vocal tract.

Comment: Luck of the draw, or designer at work?