Through a comprehensive study of newborn baby baboons’ brain anatomy, particularly the planum temporale (PT) area, a team of dedicated researchers, including esteemed CNRS scientists, has made a groundbreaking prediction. Based solely on their brain structure, they have successfully foreseen the future hand preference for communication in these baboons post-weaning.
They discovered that nearly 70% of newborn baboons exhibited early PT asymmetry, with a more enormous PT in the left hemisphere, akin to humans. As these baboons matured, they tended to develop a right-hand preference for gestural communication, irrespective of their handedness for other actions.
Interestingly, baboons without PT asymmetry or right-leaning asymmetry at birth showed an equal likelihood of later preferring either hand for communication. This finding suggests the importance of PT asymmetry in human language development and baboons’ gestural communication, hinting at a shared evolutionary heritage that dates back an astonishing 25 million years.
The scientists observed a group of young baboons previously examined for early brain asymmetry using MRI images taken at birth. They identified the hand the baboons preferentially used for common gestures like threatening other baboons by rubbing or slapping the ground.
This study suggests a connection between gesture and language evolution in primates, highlighting cerebral prewiring. It also suggests potential clinical applications in brain surgery to determine language-dominant hemisphere using simple communicative gestures, reducing risks of post-operative aphasia.
3D MRI cross-section of the brain of a 10-day-old baboon. The planum temporale area in the left hemisphere (shown in red), an area essential for language in humans, is larger than that in the right hemisphere (shown in green) in the majority of baboons. Only the baby baboons with this early larger left-than-right PT asymmetry will develop a preference for gestural communication with the right hand once they have reached the appropriate age, as shown in red on the left of the graph.
Credit :Centre de recherche en psychologie et neurosciences / CNRS / Aix-Marseille Université.
The study shows that the brain anatomy of baby baboons can predict which hand they will use for communication as they grow. This finding highlights the early development of communication preferences in primates. It may have implications for understanding brain function in both humans and animals.
Journal reference:
Becker, Y., Phelipon, R., Marie, D. et al. Planum temporale asymmetry in newborn monkeys predicts the future development of gestural communication’s handedness. Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47277-6.
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