Brain and Behaviour

Question 1

What are the main influences on language development?

Answer 1

Genetic factors – some mutations lead to severe language problems –gene expression realises basic neural mechanisms for language
Condition e.g. autism, ADD, developmental verbal dyspraxia

Question 2

What is the critical period for language acquisition?

Answer 2

As age increases from birth, ease of learning language decreases from age 3-8
Past the age of 10, ease of learning language is much lower than earlier in life

Question 3

What is executive functioning?

Answer 3

the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully

Question 4

State some common characteristics of dysexecutive syndrome.

Answer 4

1. Emotional
   - impulsive, emotional bluntness, apathetic, lack of empathy
2. Cognitive
   - poor planning and organisation, difficulty switching from task to task or managing more than one task at a time
3. Behavioural
   - socially inappropriate, lack of drive, poor initiation of tasks

Question 5

What are the four stages of memory process?

Answer 5

1. Registration: input from our senses into the memory system
2. Encoding: processing and combining of received information
3. Storage: holding of that input in the memory system
4. Retrieval: recovering stored information from the memory system (remembering)

Question 6

What are the types of long term memory?

Answer 6

1. Non-Declarative (Implicit) Memory (aka unconscious memory)
   - Familiarity such that you know how to interact with an object or situation without consciously thinking about it
   - Called procedural memory for actions or behaviours
   - Complex activities can be carried out without thinking (e.g. walking and eating)
2. Declarative (Explicit) Memory (aka conscious memory)
   - Episodic: related to personal experience (i.e. your memories)
   - Semantic: factual memory (i.e. general knowledge)

Question 7

Give basic examples of strategies of enhancing memory?

Answer 7

1. Assimilation – linking words with previous knowledge/giving words a meaning (e.g. SOCRATES)
2. Mnemonics – e.g. here comes the thumb, straight line to pinky (carpal bones)

Question 8

In what hemisphere do most people have a dominance for language?

Answer 8

-95% of right-handed people have left-hemispheric dominance for language
- 18.8% of left-handed people have right-hemispheric dominance for language
• MAIN POINT: most right AND left-handed people are LEFT-LATERALISED
-lateralization of brain function is the tendency for some neural functions or cognitive processes to be specialized to one side of the brain or the other.

Question 9

Describe the brain structures underlying language

Answer 9

1. Broca’s Area
   - In the LEFT FRONTAL LOBE (usually on left i.e. in the frontal lobe of the dominant hemisphere)
   -IMPORTANT FOR PRODUCING SPEECH
   - Broca’s Aphasia think of the woman who couldn’t speak in video
   • Non-fluent speech
   • Impaired repetition
   • Poor ability to produce syntactically correct sentences
   • Intact comprehension
   • CAN UNDERSTAND BUT CANNOT PRODUCE SPEECH

Wernicke’s Area
- In the POSTERIOR TEMPERO-PARIETAL AREA (also left cerebral hemisphere)
- Problems in understanding language
-Wernicke’s Aphasia think of the man speaking gibberish in the video
• Fluent meaningless speech
• Semantic paraphasias (substituting words with similar meanings)
• Phonemic paraphasias (substituting words similar in sound)
• Neologisms (non-words)
• Poor repetition
• Impairment in writing
• CAN PRODUCE SPEECH BUT IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE & CANNOT UNDERSTAND

Question 10

Define aphasia

Answer 10

a disturbance in the formulation and comprehension of language

Question 11

What is aphasia due to?

Answer 11

-injury to the brain
Most commonly = due to STROKE, or TBI or degenerative disease -primary progressive aphasia
-Can be transient - TIA

Question 12

What are the main types of aphasia?

Answer 12

1. Global,
2. Mixed transcortical
3. Broca’s,
4. Transcortical motor
5. . Wernicke’s,
6. Transcortical sensory
7. Conduction
8. Anomic

Question 13

In what types of aphasia is speech fluent?

Answer 13

last four

Wernicke’s, Transcortical sensory, Conduction, Anomic

Question 14

In what types of aphasia is speech NOT fluent?

Answer 14

first four

Global, Mixed transcortical, Broca’s, Transcortical motor

Question 15

What is Dysexecutive syndrome

Answer 15

-involves the disruption of executive function and is closely related to frontal lobe damage.

Question 16

What are the neural correlates of memory?

Answer 16

1. Episodic Memory – involves the medial temporal lobes, including the hippocampus and parahippocampal cortex
2. Semantic: Inferotemporal lobe; knowledge
3. Procedural: cerebellum, supplementary motor area, basal ganglia; how to do things

4, Working: prefrontal cortex; short term.

Question 17

What are the causes of Dysexecutive syndrome?

Answer 17

1. Head trauma
2. Degenerative disease
3. Tumours
4. Cerebrovascular disease
5. Psychiatric conditions