Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Evolutionary origins of non-adjacent sequence processing in primate brain potentials
AU - Milne, Alice E.
AU - Mueller, Jutta L.
AU - Männel, Claudia
AU - Attaheri, Adam
AU - Friederici, Angela D.
AU - Petkov, Christopher I.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2016.
PY - 2016/11/9
Y1 - 2016/11/9
N2 - There is considerable interest in understanding the ontogeny and phylogeny of the human language system, yet, neurobiological work at the interface of both fields is absent. Syntactic processes in language build on sensory processing and sequencing capabilities on the side of the receiver. While we better understand language-related ontogenetic changes in the human brain, it remains a mystery how neurobiological processes at specific human development stages compare with those in phylogenetically closely related species. To address this knowledge gap, we measured EEG event-related potentials (ERPs) in two macaque monkeys using a paradigm developed to evaluate human infant and adult brain potentials associated with the processing of non-adjacent ordering relationships in sequences of syllable triplets. Frequent standard triplet sequences were interspersed with infrequent voice pitch or non-adjacent rule deviants. Monkey ERPs show early pitch and rule deviant mismatch responses that are strikingly similar to those previously reported in human infants. This stands in contrast to adults' later ERP responses for rule deviants. The results reveal how non-adjacent sequence ordering relationships are processed in the primate brain and provide evidence for evolutionarily conserved neurophysiological effects, some of which are remarkably like those seen at an early human developmental stage.
AB - There is considerable interest in understanding the ontogeny and phylogeny of the human language system, yet, neurobiological work at the interface of both fields is absent. Syntactic processes in language build on sensory processing and sequencing capabilities on the side of the receiver. While we better understand language-related ontogenetic changes in the human brain, it remains a mystery how neurobiological processes at specific human development stages compare with those in phylogenetically closely related species. To address this knowledge gap, we measured EEG event-related potentials (ERPs) in two macaque monkeys using a paradigm developed to evaluate human infant and adult brain potentials associated with the processing of non-adjacent ordering relationships in sequences of syllable triplets. Frequent standard triplet sequences were interspersed with infrequent voice pitch or non-adjacent rule deviants. Monkey ERPs show early pitch and rule deviant mismatch responses that are strikingly similar to those previously reported in human infants. This stands in contrast to adults' later ERP responses for rule deviants. The results reveal how non-adjacent sequence ordering relationships are processed in the primate brain and provide evidence for evolutionarily conserved neurophysiological effects, some of which are remarkably like those seen at an early human developmental stage.
U2 - 10.1038/srep36259
DO - 10.1038/srep36259
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 27827366
AN - SCOPUS:84995530378
VL - 6
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
SN - 2045-2322
M1 - 36259
ER -