Beyond the Mirror: An Integrated Computational Framework for the Study of Action & Language

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Humans are unique in that they can learn and use language. However, we share many brain mechanisms for perception and action with our primate cousins, the monkeys and apes. The proposed research will chart how these shared brain mechanisms provide the basis for the uniquely human brain mechanisms that support the learning, perception, and production of language. The key idea is based on the mirror system, a system for controlling both the execution and observation of action, found for grasping in moneys. This idea was extended "beyond the mirror" in humans to encompass mechanisms for language. The approach to the research is computational: to develop computer programs that make explicit the implications of ape and monkey data and human data for analysis of the human language-ready brain. The study of language within a more general understanding of action and perception may ground new approaches to language education and the treatment of language disorders. In particular, linguists have long debated what it is about language that is innate and what reflects the child's social learning. The assumptions of different schools of thought clearly influence approaches to language education. By laying bare underlying brain mechanisms that include an account of neural plasticity, the proposed research has the potential to transform the innateness debate in ways that can inform educators. To support this, the research will also develop a new information infrastructure, the Brain Operation Database, which will provide a repository of summaries of the empirical data used to test and develop models, descriptions of the models themselves together with summarized simulation results, and tools for comparing the success of different models in explaining known data and supporting predictions for new empirical research. This work is co-funded by SBE/BCS and CISE/IIS/RI.