In a sentence reading task, words that occurred out of context were associated with specific types of event-related brain potentials. Words that were physically aberrant (larger than normal) elecited a late positive series of potentials, whereas semantically inappropriate words elicited a late negative wave (N400). The N400 wave may be an electrophysiological sign of the "reprocessing" of semantically anomalous information.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/207/4427/203.full.pdf

Reading senseless sentences: brain potentials reflect semantic incongruity

The Prefrontal Cortex, Fifth Edition, provides users with a thoroughly updated version of this comprehensive work that has historically served as the classic reference on this part of the brain. The book offers a unifying, interdisciplinary perspective that is lacking in other volumes written about the frontal lobes, and is, once again, written by the award-winning author who discovered "memory cells," the physiological substrate of working memory. The fifth edition constitutes a comprehensive update, including all the major advances made on the physiology and cognitive neuroscience of the region since publication in 2008. All chapters have been fully revised, and the overview of prefrontal functions now interprets experimental data within the theoretical framework of the new paradigm of cortical structure and dynamics (the Cognit Paradigm), addressing the accompanying social, economic, and cultural implications. * Provides a distinctly interdisciplinary view of the prefrontal cortex, covering all major methodologies, from comparative anatomy to modern imaging* Unique analysis and synthesis of a large body of basic and clinical data on the subject (more than 2000 references)* Written by an award-winning author who discovered "memory cells," the physiological substrate of working memory* Synthesizes evidence that the prefrontal cortex constitutes a complex pre-adaptive system* Incorporates emerging study of the role of the frontal lobes in social, economic, and cultural adaptation

The prefrontal cortex

• Twenty-one neonates of over 36 weeks' gestation suffered perinatal asphyxia but not chronic hypoxia. Three clinical stages of postanoxic encephalopathy were distinguished. Stage 1 lasted less than 24 hours and was characterized by hyperalertness, uninhibited Moro and stretch reflexes, sympathetic effects, and a normal electroencephalogram. Stage 2 was marked by obtundation, hypotonia, strong distal flexion, and multifocal seizures. The EEG showed a periodic pattern sometimes preceded by continuous delta activity. Infants in stage 3 were stuporous, flaccid, and brain stem and autonomic functions were suppressed. The EEG was isopotential or had infrequent periodic discharges. Infants who did not enter stage 3 and who had signs of stage 2 for less than five days appeared normal in later infancy. Persistence of stage 2 for more than seven days or failure of the EEG to revert to normal was associated with later neurologic impairment or death.

Neonatal encephalopathy following fetal distress. A clinical and electroencephalographic study.

Professional actors' portrayals of 14 emotions varying in intensity and valence were presented to judges. The results on decoding replicate earlier findings on the ability of judges to infer vocally expressed emotions with much-better-than-chance accuracy, including consistently found differences in the recognizability of different emotions. A total of 224 portrayals were subjected to digital acoustic analysis to obtain profiles of vocal parameters for different emotions. The data suggest that vocal parameters not only index the degree of intensity typical for different emotions but also differentiate valence or quality aspects. The data are also used to test theoretical predictions on vocal patterning based on the component process model of emotion (K.R. Scherer, 1986). Although most hypotheses are supported, some need to be revised on the basis of the empirical evidence. Discriminant analysis and jackknifing show remarkably high hit rates and patterns of confusion that closely mirror those found for listener-judges.

/pdf/acoustic-profiles-in-vocal-emotion-expression-4whpq8okig.pdf

Acoustic profiles in vocal emotion expression.

Group size is a function of relative neocortical volume in nonhuman primates. Extrapolation from this regression equation yields a predicted group size for modern humans very similar to that of certain hunter-gatherer and traditional horticulturalist societies. Groups of similar size are also found in other large-scale forms of contemporary and historical society. Among primates, the cohesion of groups is maintained by social grooming; the time devoted to social grooming is linearly related to group size among the Old World monkeys and apes. To maintain the stability of the large groups characteristic of humans by grooming alone would place intolerable demands on time budgets. It is suggested that (1) the evolution of large groups in the human lineage depended on the development of a more efficient method for time-sharing the processes of social bonding and that (2) language uniquely fulfills this requirement. Data on the size of conversational and other small interacting groups of humans are in line with the predictions for the relative efficiency of conversation compared to grooming as a bonding process. Analysis of a sample of human conversations shows that about 60% of time is spent gossiping about relationships and personal experiences. It is suggested that language evolved to allow individuals to learn about the behavioural characteristics of other group members more rapidly than is possible by direct observation alone.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0140525X00032325

Coevolution of neocortical size, group size and language in humans

Comparative and Field Studies.- Vocal Communication in Primates and Birds: Parallels and Contrasts.- Vocal Quavering: A Basis for Recognition in Forest Guenons.- An Analysis of Toque Macaque Cohesion Calls from an Ecological Perspective.- Environmental Influences on the Structure of Primate Vocalizations.- Social Interactions.- A New Approach to Finding Components Essential for Intraspecific Communication.- Serial Calling as a Mediator of Interaction Processes: Crying in Primates.- Communications as Social Interaction: Its Importance in Ontogeny and Adult Behavior.- Conversational Vocal Exchanges in Squirrel Monkeys.- Vocal Play Behavior in Cotton-Top Tamarins.- Biological Substrates.- Ethopharmacology of Vocal Behavior in Primates.- Neural Basis of Signal Detection.- Central Control of Monkey Calls.- Conceptual Frameworks.- Primate Vocal Expression of Affective State.- Neurobiology and Pathology of Subhuman Vocal Communication and Human Speech.- Glossary of Terms.

Primate Vocal Communication

Patterns of inhibition in auditory cortical cells in awake squirrel monkeys

Affiliative, aggressive, and vocal behaviors were observed in a group of five adult female squirrel monkeys. Affiliative partner preferences were correlated with use of the chuck vocalization. Mutually preferred partners exchanged chucks more often and with shorter latencies of response. Animals with few affiliative contacts were more likely to repeat themselves, and to obtain responses at longer latencies. Chuck exchanges neither follow nor precede changes in nonvocal behavior. Structural differences associated with the position of a chuck within a sequence were found. The peak frequency attained by several acoustic features of chucks was higher in chucks that followed closely another chuck compared with chucks that followed a silent period. We have termed these vocalizations "answer" and "question" chucks respectively. Among answer chucks, those that terminate an exchange have higher peak frequencies than those that become part of a longer sequence. These results are viewed as evidence for flexible use of signals in an exclusively linguistic context, and may be an example of categorical prosody.

David Symmes

Papers

Primate Vocal Communication

Patterns of inhibition in auditory cortical cells in awake squirrel monkeys

Temporal and Structural Analysis of Affiliative Vocal Exchanges in Squirrel Monkeys (Saimiri Sciureus)

Development of the Isolation Peep in laboratory-bred squirrel monkeys

Individuality and stability of isolation peeps in squirrel monkeys