Rotfl!! He was not a good communicator. (01)
Sent from my iPhone (02)
On 31-May-09, at 12:56, "John F. Sowa" <sowa@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: (03)
> An interesting new bit of data to add to this thread about
> the neurological processes underlying language:
>
> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090528120643.htm
> Why Can We Talk? 'Humanized' Mice Speak Volumes About
> Evolutionary Past
>
> The mice with a human copy of the FOXP2 gene, which is somehow
> related to language, don't actually speak. But they squeak in
> a lower frequency than other mice, and their brains have
> developed more complex neural interconnections.
>
> Former President Bush warned about the dangers of human-animal
> hybrids, and this is an example. (Maybe he would have become
> a better speaker if they had implanted an extra copy of this
> gene into him.)
>
> Excerpts below.
>
> John Sowa
> _________________________________________________________________
>
> Mice carrying a "humanized version" of a gene believed to influence
> speech and language may not actually talk, but they nonetheless do
> have
> a lot to say about our evolutionary past, according to a report in the
> May 29th issue of the journal Cell...
>
> One important difference between humans and chimpanzees they have
> studied are two amino acid substitutions in FOXP2. Those changes
> became
> fixed after the human lineage split from chimpanzees and earlier
> studies
> have yielded evidence that the gene underwent positive selection. That
> evolutionary change is thought to reflect selection for some important
> aspects of speech and language.
>
> "Changes in FOXP2 occurred over the course of human evolution and are
> the best candidates for genetic changes that might explain why we can
> speak," Enard said. "The challenge is to study it functionally." ...
>
> Mice with the human FOXP2 show changes in brain circuits that have
> previously been linked to human speech, the new research shows.
> Intriguingly enough, the genetically altered mouse pups also have
> qualitative differences in ultrasonic vocalizations they use when
> placed
> outside the comfort of their mothers' nests. But, Enard says, not
> enough
> is known about mouse communication to read too much yet into what
> exactly those changes might mean...
>
> Those differences offer a window into the evolution of speech and
> language capacity in the human brain. They said it will now be
> important
> to further explore the mechanistic basis of the gene's effects and
> their
> possible relationship to characteristics that differ between humans
> and
> apes...
>
>
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