ArticlePLoS biology2023
Morphological evolution of language-relevant brain areas.
Article in PLoS biology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Neuropsychological functioning and quality of life in congenital myopathies: a systematic review of children and caregiver outcomes.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Utterance evolution: the road to generative, combinatorial communicators.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026Review
- CIVET-Chimp: An automated pipeline for MRI-based cortical surface extraction in chimpanzees.Neuroimage. Reports · 2026Article
- Gateway to Syntax: On the Neural Origins of the Left Anterior Negativity and Their Functional Implications.Neurobiology of language (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- RETRACTED: Idea Density and Grammatical Complexity as Neurocognitive Markers.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Insights From Language-Trained Apes: Brain Network Plasticity and Communication.Evolutionary anthropology · 2025Review
- Long arcuate fascicle in wild and captive chimpanzees as a potential structural precursor of the language network.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Article
- The core language network separated from other networks during primate evolution.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Investigating the role of the left inferior frontal gyrus in language evolution: insights from comparative neuroscience.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Review
- Enhanced cortical activity of swallowing under acid stimulation in normal individuals: an fNIRS study.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Simultaneous invasive and non-invasive recordings in humans: A novel Rosetta stone for deciphering brain activity.Journal of neuroscience methods · 2024Review
- Comparative Analysis of Human-Chimpanzee Divergence in Brain Connectivity and its Genetic Correlates.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Ultra-high-resolution diffusion MRI resource of chimpanzee white matter connectivity.Nature methods · 2024Article
- Editorial: The evolution of the brain hardware for language.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Brain structure and function: a multidisciplinary pipeline to study hominoid brain evolution.Frontiers in integrative neuroscience · 2023Article
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6 authors.
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Abstract
Human language is supported by a cortical network involving Broca's area, which comprises Brodmann Areas 44 and 45 (BA44 and BA45). While cytoarchitectonic homolog areas have been identified in nonhuman primates, it remains unknown how these regions evolved to support human language. Here, we use histological data and advanced cortical registration methods to precisely compare the morphology of BA44 and BA45 in humans and chimpanzees. We found a general expansion of Broca's areas in humans, with the left BA44 enlarging the most, growing anteriorly into a region known to process syntax. Together with recent functional and receptorarchitectural studies, our findings support the conclusion that BA44 evolved from an action-related region to a bipartite system, with a posterior portion supporting action and an anterior portion supporting syntactic processes. Our findings add novel insights to the longstanding debate on the relationship between language and action, and the evolution of Broca's area.
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