How the Brain Got Language: The Mirror System Hypothesis

by Michael A. Arbib

Unlike any other species, humans can learn and use language. This book explains how the brain evolved to make language possible, through what Michael Arbib calls the Mirror System Hypothesis. Because of mirror neurons, monkeys, chimps, and humans can learn by imitation, but only "complex imitation," which humans exhibit, is powerful enough to support the breakthrough to language. This theory provides a path from the openness of manual gesture, which...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0199896682
• ISBN13: 9780199896684
• Release Date: April 2012
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.2" x 9.3"