1.11 Language and the Brain

Question 1

What are the 2 specialised language areas in the left hemisphere of the brain

Answer 1

Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area

Question 2

Describe the Brocas’s area

Answer 2

Area in the left inferior frontal gyrus. Functions in producing any form of language

Question 3

Describe the Wernicke’s area

Answer 3

Area in the left posterior superior temporal gyrus. Functions in comprehending any form of language

Question 4

What is an aphasia

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Describe Broca’s aphasia

Answer 5

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)

Question 6

Describe Wernicke’s aphasia

Answer 6

bad language comprehension but good speech production, known as fluent aphasia, reading and writing are severely impaired

Question 7

Why are there no consitent definitions definitions of the locations of the Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas

Answer 7

The sizes and boundaries of these regions can vary significantly between individuals

Question 8

What is a detailed model describe the areas involved in comprehension and responding to spoken language.

Answer 8

The Wernicke-Geschwind Model

Question 9

Give some limitations of the Wernicke-Geschwind model

Answer 9

• 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

Question 10

What are two research procedures for studying the different brain hemispheres

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

What is electrocorticography (ECoG) scanning used for

Answer 11

To map brain functions whilst a person is awake and performing a task to give precise locations of the brain functions