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Vocal learning, prosody, and basal ganglia: Don't underestimate their complexity1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2014

Andrea Ravignani ,
Mauricio Martins  and
W. Tecumseh Fitch
Andrea Ravignani
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. [email protected]@[email protected]://homepage.univie.ac.at/andrea.ravignani/www.researchgate.net/profile/Mauricio_Martins4/http://homepage.univie.ac.at/tecumseh.fitch/
Mauricio Martins
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. [email protected]@[email protected]://homepage.univie.ac.at/andrea.ravignani/www.researchgate.net/profile/Mauricio_Martins4/http://homepage.univie.ac.at/tecumseh.fitch/ Language Research Laboratory, Lisbon Faculty of Medicine, 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal.
W. Tecumseh Fitch
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. [email protected]@[email protected]://homepage.univie.ac.at/andrea.ravignani/www.researchgate.net/profile/Mauricio_Martins4/http://homepage.univie.ac.at/tecumseh.fitch/
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Abstract

Ackermann et al.'s arguments in the target article need sharpening and rethinking at both mechanistic and evolutionary levels. First, the authors' evolutionary arguments are inconsistent with recent evidence concerning nonhuman animal rhythmic abilities. Second, prosodic intonation conveys much more complex linguistic information than mere emotional expression. Finally, human adults' basal ganglia have a considerably wider role in speech modulation than Ackermann et al. surmise.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 6 , December 2014 , pp. 570 - 571
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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Footnotes

1.

Andrea Ravignani and Mauricio Martins contributed equally to this commentary as joint first authors.

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