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Professor.
Ph.D., .
Research Interests
Philip Lieberman's research focuses on the nature and evolution
of biological bases of human linguistic and cognitive ability.
Much of his previous work concerned the evolution of speech producing
anatomy. In the past 20 years he has focused on the brain bases
of these human attributes. The data of his and independent studies
suggests that neural mechanisms initially adapted for motor control
were the starting point for language and human cognitive ability.
His research places special attention on subcortical basal ganglia
structures that play a critical role in regulating motor control,
language, and cognitive flexibility. The traditional theory localizing
language to the left hemisphere of the cortex in Broca's and Wernicke's
areas is incorrect. Neural circuits connecting many parts of the
brain regulate language as well as virtually all other aspects
of behavior in humans and other species. The continuity of evolution
is apparent in the structures of the human brain and body that
confer language. And contrary to the theories of Noam Chomsky,
popularized by Stephen Pinker, the neural bases of human language
are not different in kind from those regulating emotion, motor
control or other aspects of behavior in human and other species.
Lieberman's current experimental research involves studies of
Parkinson's Disease and the effects of oxygen deprivation. He
has been studying mountaineers ascending Mount Everest in a NASA
funded project since exposure to cosmic rays in deep space may
produce similar effects. His other anthropological interest is
the photographic documentation of Tibetan life and Buddhist paintings
in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, India, and Tibet.
Selected Publications
2002the nature and evolution of the neural bases of human language.
Yearbook of Physical Anthropology.
2001Human language and our reptilian brain: The subcortical bases of speech, syntax, and thought. Cambridge Mass: Harvard University Press.
1998The Biology and Evolution of Language Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
1996On the origins of language: An introduction to the evolution of speech. New York: Macmillan.
1995On the speech of Neanderthal man.
Linguistic Inquiry. 2:203-222.
1989Intonation, perception and language. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
Courses Taught
For current and scheduled courses taught by Professor Lieberman, click here.
