Great Minds Think Alike – Or Do They? Unexpected Evolutionary Paths in Thought and Language

NEW YORK - Oct. 30, 2013 - PRLog -- The emergence of human cognition, language, and speech has been a subject of fascination for hundreds of years. Language enables people to share, cooperate, make plans, preserve knowledge, and tell stories. It allows humans to be sophisticated social creatures. Language facilitates and shapes our thought processes and plays an important role in human cognition and consciousness.

On Monday, November 18, 2013, U.S. and German experts from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Georgia State University and Columbia University will discuss the evolutionary routes of complex cognition and language development to advance our understanding of the human brain. This event is the first in a series of UAMR Science Talks and is jointly organized by the UAMR Liaison Office New York, the German Center for Research and Innovation (GCRI), and the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Prof. Onur Gϋntϋrkϋn, Professor of Biological Psychology at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and recipient of the 2013 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Award, the highest research honor in Germany, will discuss the basis for humans’ highly developed cognitive abilities. As mammals with the largest number of cortical neurons, humans have long been perceived as “cognitively superior” to other animals. Dr. Gϋntϋrkϋn, however, will present new studies that reveal that birds possess cognitive abilities on par with chimps and the bird brain has taken its own evolutionary path, which has been as successful as that of mammals.

Prof. William Hopkins, Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at Georgia State University, will address how the human communication system has evolved and what changes in the brain accompanied this development of language and speech. His presentation will focus on comparative studies of primates, namely chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and monkeys, and how these findings on the animals’ communication abilities relate to our broader understanding of language and speech.

Prof. Herbert Terrace, Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at Columbia University, will moderate the discussion.

This evolutionary neuroscience event will take place on Monday, November 18, 2013, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the German Center for Research and Innovation (871 United Nations Plaza, First Avenue, btw. 48th & 49th Streets). RSVP by November 14, here (http://form.jotformpro.com/form/32825678870972).

Unable to attend? Follow @gcri_ny (https://twitter.com/gcri_ny) and the hashtag #cognition for live tweets.

A video recording will be available on www.germaninnovation.org shortly after the event.

The German Center for Research and Innovation provides information and support for the realization of cooperative and collaborative projects between North America and Germany. With the goal of enhancing communication on the critical challenges of the 21st century, GCRI hosts a wide range of events from lectures and exhibitions to workshops and science dinners. Opened in February 2010, GCRI was created as a cornerstone of the German government’s initiative to internationalize science and research and is one of five centers worldwide.