Language as a Tool: Motor Proficiency Using a Tool Predicts Individual Linguistic Abilities

Frontiers in Psychology
Claudio BrozzoliMartin Lövdén

Abstract

Different disciplines converge to trace language evolution from motor skills. The human ability to use tools has been advocated as a fundamental step toward the emergence of linguistic processes in the brain. Neuropsychological and neuroimaging research has established that linguistic functions and tool-use are mediated by partially overlapping brain networks. Yet, scholars still theoretically debate whether the relationship between tool-use and language is contingent or functionally relevant, since empirical evidence is critically missing. Here, we measured both linguistic production and tool-use abilities in the same participants, as well as manual and linguistic motor skills. A path analysis ruling out unspecific contributions from manual or linguistic motor skills, showed that motor proficiency using a tool lawfully predicts differences in individual linguistic production. In addition, more complex tool-use reveals stronger association between linguistic production and tool mastery. These findings establish the existence of shared cognitive processes between tool-use and language.

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Citations

Jan 11, 2020·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience·Gloria PizzamiglioElisabeth Rounis
Dec 12, 2020·Scientific Reports·Giovanni GranatoGianluca Baldassarre
Aug 19, 2021·Journal of Neurophysiology·Marta RussoGiacomo Ariani

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