Philip Lieberman

Philip Lieberman's central interest is the nature and evolution of the biological bases of human language and cognition. His studies, 30 years ago, of the limitations placed on the speech capabilities of living apes by their anatomy opened up a new field of study. His inferences concerning the speech capabilities of Neanderthals have led to recent studies that show that fully human speech capabilities are apparent in the fossil record only 50,000 years ago in the upper Palaeolithic

Since the 1980s Lieberman has focused on the properties of the brain that make human speech, language, and cognition possible. His current work focuses on the deep subcortical structures of the brain that work together with the traditional cortical areas of the brain, Broca's and Wernicke's areas together with many other neural structures, to confer these human capabilities. He has proposed that brain mechanisms that were initially adapted for motor control were modified by Darwinian processes to make higher cognitive and linguistic ability possible. The studies that he and his colleagues are conducting to test these premises include tests of patients with Parkinson's Disease and climbers ascending Mount Everest whose brains are stressed by the lack of oxygen at extreme altitudes.

Lieberman continues to study the aspects of speech that convey emotion and linguistic information. Students who are interested in human evolution and the nature of the brain are welcome to participate in these projects. The findings of these studies — and those of many other linguistic, neurophysiologic, and genetic studies — refute the linguistic theories of Noam Chomsky that have been popularized by Steven Pinker.In Lieberman's most recent book, Toward an evolutionary biology of language, he demonstrates the central role of speech in human language and that, contrary to Chomsky and Pinker, the brain bases of language, thinking, and motor control are intertwined. His other research involves the photographic documentation of traditional Tibetan culture in the Himalaya.

Lieberman’s current sponsored research involves a study funded by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute that is directed at perfecting a method whereby cognitive deficits resulting from damage to subcortical basal ganglia may be remotely monitored by means of acoustic analysis of speech. This involves studies of mountain climbers ascending Mount Everest and of Parkinson's Disease patients. The project is directed toward the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s projected manned mission to Mars in 2020, but it will have many applications on earth, including the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and monitoring aircrews for cognitive dysfunction induced by lack of oxygen.

Lieberman’s other sponsored project is funded by the Getty Foundation for the creation of a DVD documenting the 15th-century Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings of Lo Manthang, a remote temple complex in Nepal, which he photographed for the Getty Foundation in 1993 and 1994. Lieberman also consults for many organizations on speech analysis and voice identification, including the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).