Neuroanatomical Correlates of Handedness for Tool Use in Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes): Implication for Theories on the Evolution of Language

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: William D. Hopkins, Emory University; Jamie L. Russell, Emory University; Claudio Cantalupo, Clemson University
• Language: English
• Date: 2007-11
• Publisher: Association for Psychological Science
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2007 Association for Psychological Science
• Final Published Version (URL): http://pss.sagepub.com/content/18/11/971.long
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Psychological Science
• ISSN: 0956-7976
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 11
• Start Page: 971
• End Page: 977
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported in part by National Institutes of Health Grants RR-00165, NS-36605, NS-42867, and HD-38051.
• Research Categories: Biology, Neuroscience; Psychology, Psychobiology

Abstract

It has been hypothesized that cognitive mechanisms underlying lateralized complex motor actions associated with tool use in chimpanzees may have set the stage for the evolution of left-hemisphere specialization for language and speech in humans. Here we report evidence that asymmetries in the homologues to Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas are associated with handedness for tool use in chimpanzees. These results suggest that the neural substrates of tool use may have served as a preadaptation for the evolution of language and speech in modern humans.