The origin of the language pathway in the human brain is from at least 25 million years ago

In the past, many scientists thought that the beginnings of the language pathway appeared later, about five million years ago, in a common ancestor of apes and humans. They now predate its evolutionary origin by at least 20 million years

In the past, many scientists thought that the beginnings of the language pathway appeared later, about five million years ago, in a common ancestor of apes and humans.

For neuroscientists, this is the equivalent of finding a fossil that sheds light on the history of evolution. But unlike bones, brains didn't get hungry. Instead neuroscientists have to infer the properties of the brains of common ancestors by examining brain scans of living primates and comparing them to humans.

Professor Chris Petkov from the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Newcastle, UK, who leads the study, said: "It's like finding a new fossil of a long-lost ancestor. It's also exciting that there might be an older source that hasn't been discovered yet."

The international teams of European and American scientists carried out the study and analysis of brain images of auditory regions and brain pathways in humans, great apes and monkeys that are published in Nature Neuroscience.

They discovered a segment of this language pathway in the human brain that connects the auditory cortex with areas of the frontal lobe that are important in processing speech and language. Although speech and language are unique to humans, the connection through the auditory pathway in other primates suggests an evolutionary basis in auditory cognition and vocal communication.

Professor Petkov added: "We predicted but could not know for sure whether the language pathway in humans had an evolutionary basis in the auditory system of non-human primates. I admit we were amazed to see a similar pathway hidden in plain sight in the system the auditory system of non-human primates".

A noticeable change

The study also shows the marked change in the language pathway in humans. An important unique difference was found in humans: the left side of this pathway in the human brain was stronger and the right side appeared to have branched from the auditory evolutionary prototype to include non-auditory parts of the brain.

The study relied on brain scans from the open sharing resources of the global scientific community. Original new brain scans have also been created and are being shared globally to encourage more discoveries. And, since the authors predict that the auditory beginning of the language pathway in humans may be even more ancient, the study encourages a neurobiological search for its earliest evolutionary source—the next brain "fossil"—to be found in animals more distantly related to humans.

Professor Timothy Griffith, a consultant neuroscientist at the University of Newcastle, UK and co-senior author of the study says: "This discovery has huge potential for understanding which aspects of auditory cognition and language in humans can be studied using animal models in ways that are not possible using humans and monkeys. Research has already "Encourage new research that is being carried out that also includes neurological patients."

The University of Newcastle, Faculty of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom, participated in the study; Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Germany; UCL Birkbeck Center for Brain Imaging, UK; University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA; University of Iowa, USA.

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