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Science 9 January 1998:
Vol. 279. no. 5348, pp. 220 - 222
DOI: 10.1126/science.279.5348.220
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Reports

Asymmetry of Chimpanzee Planum Temporale: Humanlike Pattern of Wernicke's Brain Language Area Homolog

Patrick J. Gannon, * Ralph L. Holloway, Douglas C. Broadfield, Allen R. Braun

The anatomic pattern and left hemisphere size predominance of the planum temporale, a language area of the human brain, are also present in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). The left planum temporale was significantly larger in 94 percent (17 of 18) of chimpanzee brains examined. It is widely accepted that the planum temporale is a key component of Wernicke's receptive language area, which is also implicated in human communication-related disorders such as schizophrenia and in normal variations such as musical talent. However, anatomic hemispheric asymmetry of this cerebrocortical site is clearly not unique to humans, as is currently thought. The evolutionary origin of human language may have been founded on this basal anatomic substrate, which was already lateralized to the left hemisphere in the common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans 8 million years ago.

P. J. Gannon, Department of Otolaryngology and Arthur M. Fishberg Research Center for Neurobiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA.
R. L. Holloway, Department of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
D. C. Broadfield, Department of Anthropology, City University of New York, 33 West 42 Street, New York, NY 10036, USA.
A. R. Braun, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed at the Department of Otolaryngology, Box 1189, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 5th Avenue at 100th Street, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA. E-mail: P Gannon{at}smtplink.mssm.edu

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