Article
On the origins of human speech: language as an internal trigger of the reward system
2025-07-07
Abstract excerpt
<p>This article proposes a neuroevolutionary model of language origins in which intrinsic reward, rather than communicative function, initially drove the emergence of symbolic vocal behavior. We propose that in early hominins, language-like acts emerged when self-generated vocalizations were internally matched to symbolic referents, activating dopaminergic reward circuits and reinforcing these behaviors independen...
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Identifiers and source
- Literature Corpus work
- a175aa22-1a60-5f1d-b5d9-feaa38a9ec1b
- DOI
- 10.31234/osf.io/uchx6_v1