Evolution doesn’t just shape bodies - it shapes ideas, sounds, and language itself. Just like genes mutate, compete, and ...

In my previous post, Universal Scenes of Experience and the Emergence of Grammar, I discussed the trajectory of the emergence of grammar. In this post, I continue this theme by asking: Why did ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Alysson Muotri, Ph.D. Lead exposure shaped human evolution, influencing brain development and the rise of language. (CREDIT: Kyle ...

You see a cat chasing a mouse. You probably don’t realize it, but as soon as you catch sight of this scene unfolding, your brain makes a key distinction between the cat and the mouse: It identifies ...

What happens to language when two populations come together? A new study in Science Advances has sought to answer that question with the help of human genetics. In fact, in a first-of-its-kind ...

This story is from The Pulse, a weekly health and science podcast. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Joshua Plotkin, a biology professor at the University of ...

Language is one of the few faculties that still seems to be uniquely human. Other animals, like chimpanzees and songbirds, have developed elaborate communication systems, but none appears to convey ...

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Language changes and evolves, and that’s a good thing. Our language expands as we find new ways to express old concepts and ideas, and, frankly, new ...