Graduate Seminar, Biology 608V, Spring 2008

Mondays 2-4 PM, Room BPS 1208

 

 Genetics and evolution of vocal learning and language

 

Instructors:

 

Gerald Wilkinson, Biology

Juan Uriagereka, Linguistics

Jim Reggia, Computer Science


 

General goals: This interdisciplinary seminar is motivated by a series of recent papers that have implicated a particular gene (FoxP2) in human language and nonhuman animal communication. Detailed anatomical studies in a variety of species, including humans, reveal the presence of the relevant protein in developing brains, in regions that are homologous to the human caudate nucleus, a region known to be important for learning, memory and language comprehension. In the case of songbirds, specific brain circuits for song acquisition and song production exhibit activity of this gene and correspond to functionally equivalent brain circuits in other species.  Moreover, there are indications that the gene may play a role in the regulation of what psychologists refer to as procedural memory. The modalities of the phenotype that these brain regions control range from speech to sonar and include chirping, dancing, gestural patterns and possibly other manifestations.

 

Given these claims, our specific goal in the seminar is to critically evaluate the available evidence and determine the extent to which the genetic, linguistic and neurobiological patterns are consistent with a single underlying genetic basis.  Our more general goal is to explore the links between human language and a variety of animal behaviors related specifically to vocal learning and communication.  In addition to considering genetic, linguistic and neurobiological evidence, we will also will examine and discuss computational and analytical approaches to solving the question of how complex communication in general and language in particular has evolved. 

 

The three instructors leading this seminar share an interest in the evolution of language but have complimentary expertise in areas that include animal behavior, genetics, linguistics, neurobiology, and artificial life simulation.  We hope that the students that participate in the seminar will also have different backgrounds but share a general interest in evolution.  To insure that all topics can be discussed by all participants, in the first four meetings of the course we will provide primers on pertinent information related to linguistics, neurobiology, vocal learning, computational biology, and genetics.  Subsequent class meetings will be devoted to discussing papers as described below.  The specific list of topics discussed in the seminar will be decided during the first week of the class.

Format: This course will meet once a week on Mondays from 2-4 PM. After assessing the background and interests of individuals in the class, a schedule of topics for the semester will be developed and readings will be assigned. The first four weeks will be run by the instructors and will consist of tutorials on the linguistic, computational and genetic approaches to the study of language and vocal communication.  In subsequent weeks, the discussions will be led by members of the class.   Each week, one or two key papers or book chapters will be assigned for all members of the class to read. In addition, each class member will read at least one additional paper either from the list provided or that they find on their own.  One or two members of the class will lead the discussion of the article read by all, as well as the individual articles read by each class member.  Summaries of each paper will be compiled and made available on the class website,

http://www.life.umd.edu/faculty/wilkinson/BIOL608V/

Grading: If enrolled for one credit, grades will be based on attendance, participation in discussions, presentation, and an annotated bibliography for the material discussed during one week. If enrolled for two credits, a review paper must also be completed. The paper should be written in the form of a review article for a Trends in journal. The paper should be between 2,000 and 2,500 words (about 10 double-spaced pages) and should provide a balanced review of some topic that was covered during the course.