Abstract
Recent research has added new dimensions to our understanding of classical evolution, according to which evolutionary novelties result from gene mutations inherited from parents to offspring. Language is surely one such novelty. Together with specific changes in our genome and epigenome, we suggest that two other (related) mechanisms may have contributed to the brain rewiring underlying human cognitive evolution and, specifically, the changes in brain connectivity that prompted the emergence of our species-specific linguistic abilities: the horizontal transfer of genetic material by viral and non-viral vectors and the brain/immune system crosstalk (more generally, the dialogue between the microbiota, the immune system, and the brain).
Highlights
Hauser et al (2002) hypothesized that our Faculty of Language may be decomposed into a core computational system and two interface devices; a conceptual-intentional system and an externalization system
We have found that several of the genes potentially transferred from viruses are candidates for cognitive disorders entailing language deficits, or play a role in aspects of brain development and function that we believe relevant for language processing, or interact with some of our candidates for language evolution (Table 1; Figure 3)
As Stilling et al (2014b: p. 11) puts it, ‘‘the microbiome represents a further interface for environmental influence and a dynamic source for transgenerational developmental regulation [M]icrobiota . . . accelerate short-term environmental adaptation and may be especially helpful in unifying different theories of host-microbe co-evolution and the evolution of the ‘social brain’.’’ In short, we expect the microbiota to account for some aspects of the ‘‘cultural niche’’ that allowed the transition from modern cognition to modern behavior and full-fledged languages
Summary
Hauser et al (2002) hypothesized that our Faculty of Language may be decomposed into a core computational system (the narrow faculty of language or narrow syntax, NS) and two interface devices; a conceptual-intentional system and an externalization system. The gene is a target of RUNX2 (Kuhlwilm et al, 2013) and FOXP2 (Spiteri et al, 2007), both crucial factors involved in language development (Boeckx and Benítez-Burraco, 2014a,b) Before reviewing another aspect of the parallelisms, note that other surface molecules involved in cell-recognition/adhesion in brain development/functioning are often endowed with immunoglobulin-like properties. As a second aspect of crosstalk between the immune system and the brain (and, for us, the parallelism between immunity and syntax), note that immunoglobulin cell surface receptors are active in the brain (Figure 2) They play a role in the development of different cell types (Nakahara et al, 2003) and contribute to the functional establishment in different brain areas (Andoh and Kuraishi, 2004; Nakamura et al, 2007). Infections can affect a population, contributing to spread innovations, and because microbes can integrate into the host genome, modifications brought about by their genetic material or the integration event can be inherited by the offspring
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