Erbaba Begun, Sinha Mira, Guevara Elaine E, Hecht Erin E, Hopkins William D, Sherwood Chet C
Department of Anthropology and Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, USA.
Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.
Evol Anthropol. 2025 Sep;34(3):e70018. doi: 10.1002/evan.70018.
Language is central to the cognitive and sociocultural traits that distinguish humans, yet the evolutionary emergence of this capacity is far from fully understood. This review explores how the study of the brains of language-trained apes (LTAs) offers a unique and valuable opportunity to tease apart the relative contribution of evolved species differences, behavior, and environment in the emergence of complex communication abilities. For example, when raised in sociolinguistically rich and interactive environments, LTAs show communicative competencies that parallel aspects of early human language acquisition and exhibit altered neuroanatomy, including increased connectivity and laterization in regions associated with language. Sustained and enriched early exposure to symbolic experience may also alter molecular pathways, including modifications in the expression of genes involved in synaptic plasticity, neural connectivity, and cognitive function, thus critically underpinning speech and language processing. This theoretical synthesis highlights how research on language-trained apes can inform our understanding of experience-dependent plasticity in distributed neural networks, providing insights into the evolutionary origins of human communication.
语言对于区分人类的认知和社会文化特征至关重要，然而这种能力在进化过程中的出现远未得到充分理解。本综述探讨了对接受语言训练的猿类（LTA）大脑的研究如何提供了一个独特且有价值的机会，来剖析进化的物种差异、行为和环境在复杂交流能力出现过程中的相对贡献。例如，当在社会语言丰富且互动的环境中饲养时，LTA表现出与早期人类语言习得方面相似的交流能力，并呈现出神经解剖结构的改变，包括与语言相关区域的连接性增加和功能偏侧化。早期持续且丰富地接触符号体验也可能改变分子途径，包括参与突触可塑性、神经连接和认知功能的基因表达的改变，从而对言语和语言处理起到关键支撑作用。这一理论综合强调了对接受语言训练的猿类的研究如何能增进我们对分布式神经网络中经验依赖可塑性的理解，为人类交流的进化起源提供见解。
