Abstract
Significant progress has been made to relate specific aspects of the human genotype to the phenotype speech and/or language. However, our overview shows that we are only at the beginning of exploring the innate mechanisms underlying complex linguistic and cognitive behavior. Different genome projects on modern humans (including human variations), Neanderthals, and chimpanzees were completed. Based on behavioral data, we know that the FOXP2 transcription factor is a speech-related gene and alpha tectorin plays a role in hearing. Other genes such as ASPM and GLUD2 are associated with language, and GNPTAB and NAGPA with stuttering. Comparative studies as well as studies with members of the KE family indicate that FOXP2 regulates a whole set of gene(s) responsible for the development of speech-related (sub)cortical structures. The search for a genetic base of a symbolic acquisition algorithm (SAA), which enables young children to learn languages instinctively in a few years, continues.
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Notes
- 1.
The FOXP2 gene of the El Sidrón 1253 and 1351c specimen shows the same mutations at positions A-911 and G-977 in exon 7 as in modern humans.
- 2.
Tonal languages use tones (tonemes) to distinguish words or inflections (e.g., Bantu languages, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai).
- 3.
White matter connections can be better analyzed with DTI and fiber tractography than with standard MRI. The DT-MRI method measures in vivo and non-invasively the random motion (diffusion) of hydrogen atoms within water molecules (or other moieties) in all three dimensions. Water in tissues, which consist of a large number of fibers such as brain white matter, and DT-MRI renders in 3D complex information how water diffuses in tissues.
- 4.
Damage to the basal ganglia can result in motor disorders such as Parkinson disease, Huntington disease, Tourette syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder. The caudate nucleus is located within the basal ganglia.
- 5.
The European Magpie ( Pica pica) belongs to the crow family and is believed to be one of the most intelligent animals. Although the European Magpie has no neocortex, the nidopallium (a region of the avian brain responsible for executive and cognitive functions) has a relative size comparable to the neostriatum of the basal ganglia in humans, chimpanzees, and orangutans.
- 6.
DNA microarrays measure expression levels of thousands of genes simultaneously. Most microarray systems measure different types of mRNA molecules in cells and thus indirectly measure the expression levels of the genes responsible for the synthesis of those mRNA molecules.
- 7.
The approach of computational linguistics is, in contrast to mentalistic or cognitive linguistics, exclusively formalistic for the purpose of creating software applications independent of the question “how human cognition works.” This does not exclude the possibility that some formalism turns out to be a useful by-product for describing language and cognition in humans.
- 8.
As for any species, there have to be innate restrictions with respect to cognitive behavior. We do not discuss at this point the scope of these restrictions whether biolinguistic approaches, for example, are too restrictive by considering only specific linguistic levels of descriptions such as syntax and/or semantics.
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Hillert, D. (2014). Genetic Foundations. In: The Nature of Language. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0609-3_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0609-3_3
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