Study: Syntax evolved by gradually repurposing pre-existing sensorimotor circuits
abenitezburraco · x · 2026-11-01
A new paper argues that syntax did not appear from scratch but evolved through the gradual repurposing of pre-existing sensorimotor circuits.
- Using agent/observer computational models, it shows an agent predicts based on its own goals, while an observer must infer the agent's goals from visual input as predictive hypotheses
- This shift from goal-driven prediction to goal inference in others is proposed as a computational basis for the emergence of syntax
- The work sits at the intersection of cognitive science and computational modeling, with implications for theories of language origins and comparisons to LLMs
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