Abstract

FERREIRA, ROBERTO GODOFREDO FABRI; SANTOS, LUÍS CLÁUDIO CELESTINO DOS; SILVA, ALESSANDRA DA SILVA DE SOUZA  and  FARIA, EDUARDO SEGURASSE. The philogenesis of language : new approaches of old questions. Arq. Neuro-Psiquiatr. [online]. 2000, vol.58, n.1, pp. 188-194. ISSN 0004-282X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0004-282X2000000100030.

The philogenesis and the anthropogenesis of language are the primary elements for the anatomic and physiologic understanding about the mechanisms of human communication, as well as their clinical applicability. During the process of primates'evolution, significant changes in the animal's body, specially on the heads, has occurred since the arboricole life that influences the genesis of language. The adaptation of a semi-vertical body posture, the exploratory use of the hands and the improvement of vision at the expenses of olfaction have caused the enlargement of the cranium and the encephalon. Furthermore, as the primates went back to the floor, and from the development of the biped march in the Australopithecus, a progressive "fan-like" increase of the frontal, parietal and temporal regions took place allowing the simultaneous development of the neuroanatomical centers of language, facial expression and manual motor activity.

Keywords : language; philogenesis; neurolinguistics.