1.11 Language and the Brain Flashcards
Define language
A language is defined as a system for representing and communicating information where there is an obedience to a set of rules (e.g grammar or prosody -intonation to express emotion). It can be expressed through sounds, writing or signals.
What is a speech gene in embryonic development
FOXP2
What are the 2 specialised language areas in the left hemisphere of the brain
Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area
Describe the Brocas’s area
Area in the left inferior frontal gyrus. Functions in producing any form of language
Describe the Wernicke’s area
Area in the left posterior superior temporal gyrus. Functions in comprehending any form of language
What is an aphasia
A language disorder caused by a lesion to a language associated part of the brain. Cognitive abilities remain intact and muscles of speech are usually not affected
Describe Broca’s aphasia
known as non fluent aphasia, there is good comprehension and might be able to read, but deficiency in motor-planning and ability to find words, also can have paraphasia (unintended words or syllables during speech)
Describe Wernicke’s aphasia
bad language comprehension but good speech production, known as fluent aphasia, reading and writing are severely impaired
Why are there no consitent definitions definitions of the locations of the Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas
The sizes and boundaries of these regions can vary significantly between individuals
What is a detailed model describe the areas involved in comprehension and responding to spoken language.
The Wernicke-Geschwind Model
Give some limitations of the Wernicke-Geschwind model
- the spatial precision of the model is too vague to test any specific hypothesis on the affects of certain regions on behaviour
- it centers around only 2 language regions
- it only focuses on cortical structures and leaves out subcortical structures and connections
- because of this limited scope, it is hard to know how white matter supports these functions in the areas
What proportion of people have their language areas in the left hemisphere of their brains
93%
What are two research procedures for studying the different brain hemispheres
wada procedure- to explore the function of a single hemisphere, the other one is put to sleep
split brain studies- surgical disconnection between the two hemispheres by severing the corpus callosum and anterior commissure to ensure for two independent hemispheres to be studies. tachistoscopic presentation is also used
What is electrocorticography (ECoG) scanning used for
To map brain functions whilst a person is awake and performing a task to give precise locations of the brain functions
