[Linganth] Toothpicking

Fri Dec 3 15:25:35 UTC 2004

Sorry. Didn't mean to make things difficult for people. See article at
bottom of this post. Robert.

At 08:31 PM 12/2/2004, Alena Sanusi wrote:
>Is there any chance you could copy and paste this into an e-mail message?
>The URL you gave is available only to subscribers, and there are surely
>others besides me on the list who do not have subscription access.
>
>--Alena Sanusi
>
>>From: Robert Lawless <robert.lawless at wichita.edu>
>>To: linganth at cc.rochester.edu
>>Subject: [Linganth] Toothpicking
>>Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 09:56:41 -0600
>>
>>Could I get reactions from some linguistics on this article:
>><http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/CA/journal/issues/v45n3/043601/043601.html>?
>>
>>Robert Lawless
>>Department of Anthropology
>>Wichita State University
>>Wichita KS 67260-0052
>>(316) 978-3195 (department)
>>(316) 978-6185 (office)
>>(316) 978-3351 (FAX)
>>robert.lawless at wichita.edu
>>Http://webs.wichita.edu/anthropology
>

DISCUSSION

On Toothpicking in Early Hominids

William A. Agger, Timothy L. McAndrews, and John A. Hlaudy
Department of Internal Medicine, Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation
(Agger)/Department of Social Biology/Archaeology, University of
Wisconsin-La Crosse (Mc Andrews)/Department of Maxillofacial Surgery,
Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation (Hlaudy), La Crosse, WI 54601, U.S.A.
19 XII 03

      Permission to reprint items in this section may be obtained only from
their authors.

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      The data on toothpicking presented by Hlusko (CA 44:738

41) represent the earliest currently known non-lithic tool use by hominids.
 From an evolutionary perspective, the main question that follows from her
interesting article is why the various species of early Homo were compelled
to pick their teeth in the first place. We suggest that toothpicking
behavior may represent indirect evidence for the evolution of the
biological capacity for language.

      There has been considerable debate surrounding the issue of when the
capacity for modern human language evolved. Some argue that the origins of
modern human language are associated with the emergence of the capacity for
complex symbolic thought during the Upper Paleolithic era, approximately
32,000 years ago (Noble and Davidson 1991). Others believe that earlier
hominids, in particular Neanderthals, who have been shown to possess a
hyoid bone similar to that of Homo sapiens, engaged in language
communication by at least 60,000 years ago (Arensburg et al. 1989). Wolpoff
(1999) presents data that suggest that the major elements of neural
organization associated with language were present as early as 2 million
years ago. We believe that Hlusko's results support the hypothesis that the
biological capacity for human language had evolved in the earliest species
of Homo, as early as 2.5 million years ago.

      Universally in modern Homo sapiens, the development of speech
quickens between the ages of five to ten months of life during the babbling
phase with a baby's first syllables (Holowka and Petitto 2002). This
developmental phase appears to be related to a biofeedback between
proprioception afferent information carried by cranial nerve V and the
auditory nerve (cranial nerve VIII) to the superior temporal gyrus. There,
after processing usually in the left dominant hemisphere, a verbal response
is sent through the Broca's motor area via cranial nerves VII, IX, X, and
XII. Cranial nerve V is the largest cranial nerve and consists of three
branches. This nerve is the main sensing nerve of the maxillofacial region
and conveys pain, light touch, temperature, proprioception, and deep
pressure. The second division is purely sensory, supplying the upper lip,
soft palate, tonsil, and roof of the mouth and the upper gums and teeth.
The third division, which emerges from the cranium via the foramen ovale,
is the largest division of the trigeminal nerve and consists of a large
sensory root and a small motor root. The sensory distribution is wide and
includes the lower lip, mandible, and temporomandibular joint and all the
mandibular teeth. A large branch of the third division, the lingual nerve,
is the general afferent nerve for the tongue. A small motor division
provides the efferent information to the muscles of mastication for jaw
movement and to a muscle (tensor veli palatini) in the soft palate
important in velopharyngeal competence.

      Those afflicted with traumatic loss of the lingual branch of cranial
nerve V report trouble with phonation (Lam et al. 2003). Furthermore, those
who undergo surgical repair of lingual nerve injuries express some
disappointment that, while chewing, feeling, and taste improve, their
speech does not (Zuniga, Chen, and Phillips 1997). Analysis of the main
acoustic features of vowel sounds when normal cranial nerve V function is
distorted by local dental anesthesia reveals various effects on the
phonetic quality of speech (Niemi et al. 2002). Alteration in normal
proprioceptive feedback has been the suggested mechanism.

      As anyone who has had small pieces of food caught between his or her
teeth or has developed a tooth chip is aware, such occurrences cause a
sensation out of proportion to the size of the food matter or tooth defect.
This exquisitely sensitive neural pathway for conveying proprioceptive
information to higher brain centers can only be routed via a developed and
functioning cranial nerve V. As a result, oral dental sensations promote
the obligatory postprandial toothpick, at least in modern times and
plausibly in early hominids. The proprioceptive information is not only
protective but critical feedback for the tongue posturing necessary for
speech.

      Thus it appears that both a highly developed afferent cranial nerve V
(trigeminal nerve) and VIII (auditory nerve) are needed for input to the
Broadman's area along the perisylvian fissure of the human brain, the
region of the brain that is critical for the formulation of speech. We
hypothesize that the ability to sense and remove food particles between
teeth occurred approximately 2 million years ago as a result of selective
pressures driving the evolution of complex vocalization of the hominid
frontal-parietal lobe.

References Cited
    * ARENSBURG, B., A. M. TILLIER, B. VANDERMEERSCH, H. DUDAY, L. A.
SCHEPARTZ, AND Y. RAK. 1989. Middle Paleolithic human hyoid bone. Nature
338:758

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    * HOLOWKA, S., AND L. A. PETITTO. 2002. Left hemisphere cerebral
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AND R. P. HAPPONEN. 2002. Effects of transitory lingual nerve impairment on
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