Language, Evolution, and the Genomics Revolution

Friday, February 15, 2013
Room 304 (Hynes Convention Center)
Simon E. Fisher , Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, Netherlands
With recent dramatic advances in molecular methods, scientists are starting to decipher how our genome helps to build a language-ready brain. I will describe how language-related genes can provide functional windows into the neural basis of spoken language. Intriguingly, our first glimpses into the relevant mechanisms suggest that this capacity, while unique to humans, is built on neurogenetic systems that are evolutionarily ancient.