This is Brain Science Live number four.

We're going to be talking about brain science episode 144,

which was an interview with Angela Friederici about language in our brain.

Over the years, neuroscientists have discovered that other animals

have many abilities that were once thought to be unique to humans. One well-known example is the

fact that chimpanzees and even some birds have the ability to use tools.

But after extensive attempts to teach language to a wide variety of animals, most scientists agree that although all animals communicate and some can learn human words,

language in its truest sense appears to be unique to humans. What I mean by language in its truest sense is having the ability to form

complex hierarchical sentences like, the boy gave the girl the book so that she could read it.

This distinction is important to researchers, like Dr. Angela Friedrichi, whose new book,

Language in Our Brains, the Origins of a Uniquely Human Capacity, provides an extensive

review of several decades of research.

That's what we explored in her interview in episode 144.

Now, language in the brain, sorry, language in our brain, it's a fairly technical book

aimed at students and scientists working in the field.

But it's also appropriate for any serious reader who wants to get a grasp of the current

neuroscience of language. Much of this research is driven by linguistic theory, which describes

language in terms of three key components,

phonology or sound, semantics or meaning, and syntax or grammar. Meanwhile, from a neuroscience point

of view, the key questions are neuroanatomy, where does it happen, and how are the important

language-related parts of the brain connected? Of course, the evolution of these connections and

parts is also of interest. These questions are addressed with different tools. For example,

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