Brain systems for auditory language

Question 1

What is a morpheme?

Answer 1

the smallest meaningful unit of a word whose combination creates a word (ex. cat vs. cats)

Question 2

What is a phoneme?

Answer 2

The smallest unit of a sound that can signal meaning (ex. /b/ vs. /p/)

Question 3

What is syntax?

Answer 3

The rules about the order of words in a language (ex. the cat chased the mouse vs. the mouse was chased by the cat)

Question 4

What is lexicon?

Answer 4

The understanding that some combinations of letters form words, but other combinations do not form words (ex. cat is a word, but dat is not)

Question 5

What is semantics?

Answer 5

It is the encyclopedic knowledge of a sentence; the stringing of words together to form a meaningful sentence (ex. the police officer was chased by the criminal vs. the whistle blew the police officer)

Question 6

What is prosody?

Answer 6

The intonation of words that can modify the interpretation of the word (i.e. adding emotional emphasis)

Question 7

What is discourse?

Answer 7

Linking of sentences to form a narrative

Question 8

Why are the distinctions in language so important when we study language?

Answer 8

Because we can map each of the components of language on to specific brain areas

Question 9

What is phonetics?

Answer 9

How a speech sound is produced in different contexts

ex. pot vs. spot

Question 10

What does manner refer to?

Answer 10

The configuration and interaction of the articulators

Question 11

What does voicing refer to?

Answer 11

The vibration of vocal chords relative to when air is released from lungs (voice onset time or VOT)

Question 12

How many phonemes does english have?

Answer 12

40

Question 13

Are phonemes and phonetics the same thing?

Answer 13

No

Question 14

What are the main components that help us produce language? How do they do that?

Answer 14

The larynx, pharynx, epiglottis, tongue, palette, lips, jaw and nasal cavity; the manipulation and control of these produce language

Question 15

What is the time difference between voiced consonants and unvoiced consonants?

Answer 15

Voiced = 0-25 ms (/ba/)
Unvoiced = 40-80 ms (/pa/)
* voice onset time is longer for unvoiced consonants

Question 16

What are the four main places of articulation?

Answer 16

Labial articulation, dental articulation, palatal articulation and velar articulation

Question 17

What is the main component to aid our perception of what sound is actually being produced by someone else?

Answer 17

The VOT (we can tolerate differences up until a point - after it crosses a threshold, we perceive a different sound)
- ex. when VOT is <20ms, people hear "di" but when VOT is > 30 ms, people hear "ti"

Question 18

What do Wernicke’s aphasics have difficulty with in reference to phonemes?

Answer 18

They have difficulty selecting, sequencing and producing the correct phoneme

Question 19

What do Broca’s aphasics have difficulty with in reference to phonemes?

Answer 19

They make phonetic and phonemic errors (this explains receptive and expressive deficits)

Question 20

What language component changes how a person with Wernicke’s aphasia perceives a sound?

Answer 20

Change in semantics changes perception for Wernicke aphasics (ex. they choose wolf instead of bear)

Question 21

What language component changes how a person with Broca’s aphasia perceives a sound?

Answer 21

Change in phoneme changes perception for Broca’s aphasics (ex. they choose pear instead of bear)

Question 22

What is the common syntax structure in english?

Answer 22

Subject + verb + object

- the exception is in the passive voice

Question 23

Which brain areas, if damaged, impairs syntax?

Answer 23

Anterior brain areas (results in agrammatic aphasia)

Question 24

What happens to syntax for people who have Broca’s aphasia?

Answer 24

complex syntax is misinterpreted (which makes the passive voice more difficult to grasp)
- they are not sensitive to grammatical cues, but their comprehension is still intact (i.e. they know that a whistle does not blow a person, therefore they can still understand the sentence, “the whistle was blown by the person”)

Question 25

Describe the Flinker study in regards to passive listening?

Answer 25

• for passive listening, the brain activation occurred 100 ms post-stimulation, and there was a similar spectral pattern for phonemes and words
• there were brain areas that activated in response to both a word and a phoneme

Question 26

Describe the Flinker study in regards to repetition?

Answer 26

• brain responses began at 80 ms post-stimulation
• adjacent electrodes responded differently to hearing vs. speaking
• there was response suppression during speech production
• *brain activity mimics output** (see Pasley study)

Question 27

What did the Pasley study discover?

Answer 27

That cortical areas involved in perceiving a stimulus reflect the properties of the input (ex. waldo, brain tries and nearly succeeds in replicating waldo)
- this is seen in motor, auditory and somatosensory input (same cortical regions are activated when thinking about a stimulus vs. actually experiencing the stimulus)

Question 28

What are the 4 pathways by which spoken language is processed?

Answer 28

There are 2 dorsal and 2 ventral pathways

Question 29

What are the dorsal pathways regarding language processing responsible for?

Answer 29

For complex syntax, morphology and phonology

Question 30

What are the ventral pathways regarding language processing responsible for?

Answer 30

They are responsible for low level semantic processing

Question 31

What did the Rolheiser study find?

Answer 31

Damage to the arcurate fascilicus (dorsal pathway) led to deficits in complex syntax, morphology and phonology
Damage to the extreme capsule (ventral pathway) led to deficits in semantics

Question 32

Describe how the neurological approach and psychological approach are different in how they explain language?

Answer 32

Neurological vs. Psychological
- anterior = speech - anterior = syntax,
output phonetic
- posterior = speech representations
comprehension - posterior =
comprehension and
phonemic representations

Question 33

Which one correctly explains language: the neurological approach or the psychological approach?

Answer 33

Neither; they are complimentary