Silbo Gomero is a whistled language used by inhabitants of La Gomera in the Canary Islands to communicate across deep ravines. Historically, researchers assumed Silbo Gomero was a simplified code with limited communicative range. However, a 2005 study by linguist Manuel Carreiras and colleagues disproved this assumption. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers monitored the brain activity of both fluent whistlers ('silbadores') and non-whistlers while they listened to whistled Spanish sentences. The fMRI scans revealed that in fluent whistlers, listening to Silbo Gomero activated the left temporal lobe—the region traditionally associated with processing spoken language. In contrast, in non-whistlers, the whistled signals only activated the right hemisphere regions associated with sound recognition, suggesting that the brain processes whistled language as linguistic data only when the individual is fluent in that language.
Based on the text, what is true about the brain activity of non-whistlers when they listened to Silbo Gomero?
- AIt indicated that the left temporal lobe is active even when an individual lacks fluency in a whistled language.
- BIt mirrored the brain activity of fluent whistlers processing spoken Spanish.
- It showed activation only in the right hemisphere regions that process sound recognition.Cevap
- DIt demonstrated that whistled signals are processed as linguistic data regardless of the listener's background.