Department of Physiological Science, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, USA.
Brain Lang. 2010 Oct;115(1):21-8. doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2009.10.002. Epub 2009 Nov 13.
Could a mutation in a single gene be the evolutionary lynchpin supporting the development of human language? A rare mutation in the molecule known as FOXP2 discovered in a human family seemed to suggest so, and its sequence phylogeny reinforced a Chomskian view that language emerged wholesale in humans. Spurred by this discovery, research in primates, rodents and birds suggests that FoxP2 and other language-related genes are interactors in the neuromolecular networks that underlie subsystems of language, such symbolic understanding, vocal learning and theory of mind. The whole picture will only come together through comparative and integrative study into how the human language singularity evolved.
单一基因突变是否可能是支持人类语言发展的进化关键？在一个人类家族中发现的一种称为 FOXP2 的分子中的罕见突变似乎表明了这一点，其序列系统发育也强化了乔姆斯基的观点，即语言是在人类中整体出现的。受这一发现的推动，对灵长类动物、啮齿动物和鸟类的研究表明，FoxP2 和其他与语言相关的基因是神经分子网络的相互作用因子，这些网络是语言子系统的基础，如符号理解、声音学习和心理理论。只有通过对人类语言独特性如何进化的比较和综合研究，才能形成整体图景。
