Lenneberg 1967

Lenneberg 1967

Chapter One The Conceptual Framework

I. Thesis: Biological Considerations are Necessary for an Understanding of Behavior

II. Form and Function in Ontogeny

(1) Mutual Influence in the Development of Nervous and Other Tissue

(2) The Embryology of Behavior

III. Behavioral Specificity and the Problem of Plasticity

(1) The Problem

(2) Central Regulatory Mechanisms of Motor Coordination

(3) Developmental History of the Central Regulatory Mechanism

IV. Genetic Foundations of Bahavior

V. Relationship between Form and Behavior

VI. Conclusion

References

Chapter Two Morphological Correlates

I. Introduction

II. Periphery

(1) Face, Lips and Mouth

(2) Topographical Anatomy of Oral Cavity, Pharynx, and Hypopharynx

(3) Intrinsic Anatomy of the Larynx

(4) Relationship between Peripheral Anatomy and Speech Sounds

III. The Central Nervous System

(1) Functional Significance of Form in the Central Nervous System

(2) The Cortex

(3) Subcortical Structures

(4) Lateralization

(5) Relative Size of the Brain

IV. Conclusion

References

Chapter Three Some Physiological Correlates

I. Aim of Physiological Discussions in this Monograph

II. Respiration

(1) Respiratory Adaptations in General

(2) Respiratory Adaptations to Speech

(3) Other Motor Changes Indirectly Related to Respiratory Adaptations

III. Speech Production

(1) Discrete Articulatory Events

(2) Rate of Articulatory Events

(3) Ordering of Articulatory Events

IV. Problems arising from Rate and Ordering

V. The Problem of the Organizing Principle: Rhythm

(1) The Rhythmic Nature of Articulation

(a) Delayed Feedback

(b) Signal-Switching between Right and Left Ear

(c) Rate of Interruption

(d) Rate of Syllable Production

(e) Psychological Correlates

(f) Neurological Correlates: EEG

(g) Neurological Correlates: Pacing of Speech During Thalamic Stimulation

(2) Final Comments on Speech Rhythmicity (Cultural, Individual and Biological Variations)

VI. Summary

References

Biolinguistic Revolution

Biolinguistic Revolution

2008 The Boundaries of Babel: The Brain and the Enigma of Impossible Languages (Current Studies in Linguistics) by Andrea Moro (Author), Noam Chomsky (Foreword) (Hardcover - Jun 30, 2008) Buy new: $35.00 $28.00

Review

"In this engaging, informative, and provocative book, a leading theoretical linguist shows why so many of us are so excited about the 'biolinguistic revolution.' Neuroscientists can discover some of the central ideas of current Chomskian linguistics; linguists can learn some of the core concepts of neuroscience; and anyone interested can see how the two fields are beginning to come together."

—Howard B. Lasnik, Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland

Product Description

"Andrea Moro has gained a unique position in formulating and implementing constructive approaches to … difficult and demanding tasks. He is able to address them with a deep understanding of modern linguistics, a field to which he has made a major contribution of his own, and mastery of the relevant technology and its potential. His new book is a lucid introduction to these exciting areas, superbly informed and imaginatively presented, with intriguing implications well beyond biolinguistics.... A rare achievement...."

—Noam Chomsky, from the foreword

In The Boundaries of Babel, Andrea Moro tells the story of an encounter between two cultures: contemporary theoretical linguistics and the cognitive neurosciences. The study of language within a biological context has been ongoing for more than fifty years. The development of neuroimaging technology offers new opportunities to enrich the "biolinguistic perspective" and extend it beyond an abstract framework for inquiry. As a leading theoretical linguist in the generative tradition and also a cognitive scientist schooled in the new imaging technology, Moro is uniquely equipped to explore this.

Moro examines what he calls the "hidden" revolution in contemporary science: the discovery that the number of possible grammars is not infinite and that their number is biologically limited. This radical but little-discussed change in the way we look at language, he claims, will require us to rethink not just the fundamentals of linguistics and neurosciences but also our view of the human mind. Moro searches for neurobiological correlates of "the boundaries of Babel"—the constraints on the apparent chaotic variation in human languages—by using an original experimental design based on artificial languages. He offers a critical overview of some of the fundamental results from linguistics over the last fifty years, in particular regarding syntax, then uses these essential aspects of language to examine two neuroimaging experiments in which he took part. He describes the two neuroimaging techniques used (positron emission topography, or PET, and functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI), but makes it clear that techniques and machines do not provide interesting data without a sound theoretical framework. Finally, he discusses some speculative aspects of modern research in biolinguistics regarding the impact of the linear structure of linguistics expression on grammar, and more generally, some core aspects of language acquisition, genetics, and evolution.

About the Author

Andrea Moro is Professor of General Linguistics at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan.

Memeticist

Memeticist

Susan Blackmore: Memes and "temes"

Susan Blackmore is dedicated to understanding the scientific nature of consciousness. Her latest work centers on the existence of memes -- little bits of knowledge, lore, habit that seem to spread themselves using human brains as mere carriers. She's exploring the existence of a new class of meme, spread by human technology. It's temporarily named the "teme."

She has written about memes, consciousness, and near-death experiences; has appeared on the British Big Brother to discuss the psychology of the participants; and writes for the Guardian UK.

Susan Blackmore: Memeticist