Unique Evolution Towards Reading and Writing Sophie Kim Reading and writing are skills unique to humans, but what sets us apart evolutionarily that led to the creation of orthographies, or writing systems? Reading and writing are relatively new developments, dating back 5,000 years. Cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphics popped up in Mesopotamia and Egypt, both as logographic languages. Even before formal writing systems, humans made art and repetitive lines and markings. The early visual cortex, the first area of the brain that receives and processes visual information from the eyes, codes edges, lines, and “T” intersections in each individual’s visual world. Humans and human-ancestors already had this area of the brain for thousands of years prior to the development of reading and writing. Throughout human evolution, both biological and cultural distinctions such as frontal lobe development and male parental investment respectively have influenced the human development of reading and writing.
20 | Reading and the Brain | Volume 4 | Spring 2022
