Communicative Signaling Activates ‘Broca's’ Homolog in Chimpanzees

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current biology 2008-03, Vol.18 (5), p.343-348
Main Authors: Taglialatela, Jared P., Russell, Jamie L., Schaeffer, Jennifer A., Hopkins, William D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Female
Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 - analysis
Frontal Lobe - physiology
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
MOLNEURO
Pan troglodytes
Pan troglodytes - physiology
Positron-Emission Tomography
Primates
Vocalization, Animal - physiology
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0960-9822
1879-0445
DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2008.01.049