Ploog D
Ciba Found Symp. 1979(69):79-98. doi: 10.1002/9780470720523.ch5.
Phylogenetic steps in the evolution of vocal communication have a bearing on the brain mechanisms involved in the emergence of human language and speech. A schema of the neuronal organization of voicing in a hierarchical manner is presented. At the lowest mesencephalic level the movements of the vocal apparatus are coordinated and integrated into species-specific vocal gestures. At the middle level these signals are controlled by the anterior limbic cortex, which serves this function in primates only, and only in the human species is the highest level around the cortical larynx and facial area actively involved in the vocal signalling process. This functional schema is used to explain the sequential stages in the ontogenetic process of phonemicization in the human infant, and special emphasis is placed on vocal-auditory feedback mechanisms which come into play from the lowest to the highest level of the central nervous system during maturation. Even feedback loops of the lowest level enable the distinction to be made between self-produced vocalizations and those produced by others. These mechanisms are thought to be an early means for the development of self-awareness. If one grants that the human infant possesses self-awareness, one must concede that such stages of the mind were developed before the emergence of the human species.
声音交流进化中的系统发育步骤与人类语言和言语出现所涉及的大脑机制有关。本文提出了一种以层次方式对发声进行神经元组织的模式。在中脑最低水平，发声器官的运动被协调并整合为特定物种的发声姿势。在中间水平，这些信号由前边缘皮质控制，而前边缘皮质仅在灵长类动物中具有此功能，并且只有在人类中，皮质喉部和面部区域周围的最高水平才积极参与发声信号传递过程。这一功能模式用于解释人类婴儿音素形成个体发育过程中的连续阶段，并特别强调在成熟过程中从中枢神经系统最低水平到最高水平发挥作用的声-听觉反馈机制。即使是最低水平的反馈回路也能区分自我产生的发声和他人产生的发声。这些机制被认为是自我意识发展的早期手段。如果承认人类婴儿具有自我意识，就必须承认这种心智阶段在人类物种出现之前就已发展。
