Editing Origin of language (section)

=== Mirror neurons and language origins ===
In humans, [[functional magnetic resonance imaging|functional MRI]] studies have reported finding areas homologous to the monkey [[mirror neuron]] system in the [[frontal lobe|inferior frontal cortex]], close to [[Broca's area]], one of the language regions of the brain. This has led to suggestions that human language evolved from a gesture performance/understanding system implemented in mirror neurons. Mirror neurons have been said to have the potential to provide a mechanism for action-understanding, imitation-learning, and the simulation of other people's behavior.<ref>[[John Skoyles (scientist)|Skoyles, John R.]], ''Gesture, Language Origins, and Right Handedness'', Psychology: 11,#24, 2000</ref> This hypothesis is supported by some [[Cytoarchitectonics|cytoarchitectonic]] homologies between monkey premotor area F5 and human Broca's area.<ref name="Petrides2005">{{Cite journal |last1=Petrides |first1=M. |last2=Cadoret |first2=G. |last3=Mackey |first3=S. |date=June 2005 |title=Orofacial somatomotor responses in the macaque monkey homologue of Broca's area |journal=Nature |volume=435 |issue=7046 |pages=1235–1238 |bibcode=2005Natur.435.1235P |doi=10.1038/nature03628 |pmid=15988526 |s2cid=4397762}}</ref>

Rates of vocabulary expansion link to the ability of children to vocally mirror non-words and so to acquire the new word pronunciations. Such [[speech repetition]] occurs automatically, quickly<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Porter |first1=R. J. |last2=Lubker |first2=J. F. |date=September 1980 |title=Rapid reproduction of vowel-vowel sequences: evidence for a fast and direct acoustic-motoric linkage in speech |journal=Journal of Speech and Hearing Research |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=593–602 |doi=10.1044/jshr.2303.593 |pmid=7421161}}</ref> and separately in the brain to [[speech perception]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=McCarthy |first1=R. |last2=Warrington |first2=E. K. |date=June 1984 |title=A two-route model of speech production. Evidence from aphasia. |journal=Brain |volume=107 |issue=2 |pages=463–485 |doi=10.1093/brain/107.2.463 |pmid=6722512 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=McCarthy |first1=R. A. |last2=Warrington |first2=E. K. |year=2001 |title=Repeating without semantics: surface dysphasia? |journal=Neurocase |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=77–87 |doi=10.1093/neucas/7.1.77 |pmid=11239078 |s2cid=12988855}}</ref> Moreover, such vocal imitation can occur without comprehension such as in [[speech shadowing]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marslen-Wilson |first=W. |year=1973 |title=Linguistic structure and speech shadowing at very short latencies |journal=Nature |volume=244 |issue=5417 |pages=522–523 |bibcode=1973Natur.244..522M |doi=10.1038/244522a0 |pmid=4621131 |s2cid=4220775}}</ref> and [[echolalia]].<ref name="Petrides2005" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fay |first1=W. H. |last2=Coleman |first2=R. O. |date=July 1977 |title=A human sound transducer/reproducer: temporal capabilities of a profoundly echolalic child |journal=Brain and Language |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=396–402 |doi=10.1016/0093-934x(77)90034-7 |pmid=907878 |s2cid=29492873}}</ref> Further evidence for this link comes from a recent study in which the brain activity of two participants was measured using fMRI while they were gesturing words to each other using hand gestures with a game of [[charades]]—a modality that some have suggested might represent the evolutionary precursor of human language. Analysis of the data using [[Granger Causality]] revealed that the mirror-neuron system of the observer indeed reflects the pattern of activity of in the motor system of the sender, supporting the idea that the motor concept associated with the words is indeed transmitted from one brain to another using the mirror system.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schippers |first1=M. B. |last2=Roebroeck |first2=A |last3=Renken |first3=R. |last4=Nanetti |first4=L. |last5=Keysers |first5=C. |year=2010 |title=Mapping the Information flow from one brain to another during gestural communication |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=107 |issue=20 |pages=9388–9393 |bibcode=2010PNAS..107.9388S |doi=10.1073/pnas.1001791107 |pmc=2889063 |pmid=20439736 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Not all linguists agree with the above arguments, however. In particular, supporters of Noam Chomsky argue against the possibility that the mirror neuron system can play any role in the hierarchical recursive structures essential to syntax.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moro |first=Andrea |title=The boundaries of Babel: the brain and the enigma of impossible language |publisher=MIT Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-262-13498-9 |location=Cambridge, MA}}{{page needed|date=March 2017}}</ref>