Chapter 19 Flashcards
phonemes
- fundamental language sounds
- individual sound units whose concatenation produces morphenes
morphemes
smallest meaningful units of words, whose combination forms a word
base, affix, inflection
base
morpheme
ex: do in undo
affix
morpheme
ex: un in undo, er in doer
inflection
morpheme
ex: ing in doing, s in girls
lexicon
- memory store that contains words and their meanings
- collection of all words and their meanings - does not include conceptual knowledge
syntax
- words strung together in patterns that conform to the rules of grammar
- appropriate choice of verb tense
semantics
meaning connected to words and sentences
prosody
- tone of voice
- can modify the literal meaning of words by varying stress, speech, and rhythm
discourse
- highest level of language processing
- stringing together sentences to form a meaningful narrative
to produce sound
enables human’s to produce sound consists of two sets of parts
- source
- filters: the length and shape of vocal tract determine sound characteristics
- Air exhaled from the lungs drives oscillation of the vocal cords, also termed the vocal folds, located in the larynx. The acoustical energy generated then passes through the vocal tract and finally out to the nostrils and lips.
vocal cords
folds of mucous membrane attached to the vocal muscles
larynx
voice box, organ of voice
speech anatomy in humans vs apes
- human oral cavity is longer than in other apes
- human larynx is situated much lower in the throat
four core skills underlie human language:
- categorizing
- category labeling
- sequencing behaviors
- mimicry
categorization
of human language
- brain must determine which of myriad kinds of sensory information reaching the cortex corresponds to a given object in the external world
- Assigning tags to information makes it easier to perceive the information itself and to retrieve it later when needed
- ventral visual stream: (coursing through the temporal lobes) participates in object categorization
- dorsal stream: may also participate in object categorization by making relatively automatic distinctions between objects such as plant versus animal, or human versus non-human
ventral visual stream
(coursing through the temporal lobes)
participates in object categorization
dorsal visual stream
may also participate in object categorization by making relatively automatic distinctions between objects such as plant versus animal, or human versus non-human
labeling categories
- categorizing system can stimulate the production of word forms about that concept (the category)
- it can also cause the brain to evoke the concepts in words
- means of organizing events and relations
categorization
color blind
- a man who was once a painter but is now colorblind, can know and use the words, labels, for colors, even though he can no longer perceive or imagine what those labels mean
- lost his concept of color, but his words can still evoke it
categorizationn
brain lesion pts
- retain their perception of color, and thus the concept, but have lost the language with which to describe it
- experience colors but cannot attach labels to them
labeling a category includes:
and anatomy
- identifying it: temporal lobes
- organizing information within the category: function of the motor cortices in the frontal lobe within dorsal visual stream
sequencing behavior
language
- Left hemisphere structures, associated with language, have a fundamental role in ordering vocal movements, such as those used in speech
- can also sequence face, body, and arm movements to produce non-verbal language
- Sequencing words to represent meaningful actions likely makes use of the same dorsal stream, frontal cortex circuits, that sequence motor action more generally
mimicry
language
fosters language development
- from birth, babies show a preference for listening to speech over other sounds
- When they begin to babble, they are capable of making the sounds used in all languages.
- also mimic, and subsequently prefer, the language sounds made by people in their lives
- In the formative years, children may add as many as 60 new words each day to their vocabularies.
- mirror neurons of the motor system respond when we see others make movements and also when we make the same movements
- mirror neurons in the cortical language regions may be responsible for our ability to mimic the sounds, words, and actions that comprise language
discontinuity theory
language evolved rapidly and appeared suddently (last 200,000 years or so)
- modern language may have evolved from the same language
- cannot speak to the possibility that other languages preceded modern language families
- language may have appeared along with the lowered vocal tract
continuity theory
language evolved gradually because similarities in genes and behaviors of ancestral hominid species, when uniquely modified in modern humans, produced language
- language begins in the brain regions that produce movement, but a notable adaption in human language is its specialization for communication
- evolution of vocalizations
- contribution of gestures to language evolution → many animals communicate with movement - when one moves others follow
both
discontinuity and continuity theory
Language is what brains do, but a specific form that language takes varies from species to species, and this explains both the origins and the structure of language as humans use it.
- chimp Kanzi made both communicative sounds and sounds when eating
- animals communicate with movement
- We can observe the rudiments of subject-object-verb, SOV syntax, in movements such as reaching for a food item. The subject is a person, the object is the food, and the verb is the reach.
- green: broca’s areas
- yellow: wernicke’s area
language areas
fissures and gyri
- includes the inferior frontal gyrus and the superior temporal gyrus
- Parts of surrounding gyri, including the ventral parts of the precentral and postcentral gyri, the supramarginal gyrus, the angular gyrus, and the medial temporal gyrus, also lie within the core language regions.
- insula, heschl’s gyrus
- parts of the superior temporal gyrus, referred to as the anterior and posterior superior temporal planes, ASTP and PSTP
insula
a large region of the neocortex, lying within the dorsal bank of the lateral fissure
heschl’s gyrus
primary auditory cortex
planum temporale includes
Heschl’s gyrus, ASTP and PSTP
brodmann’s areas
broca’s
wernicke’s
other language regions and model probs
- 45 and 44: broca’s area
- 22: wernicke’s area
- language regions also include parts of areas 4, 9, 1, 2, 3, 40, 39, and 21, as well as the dorsal premotor area 6, also named the supplementary motor area
- This model reconceptualization of the anatomy within and surrounding Broca’s area points to a conclusion. Many challenges remain before we fully understand the anatomical basis of language. In addition, many right hemisphere regions also participate in language.
wernicke-geschwind model
based entirely on lesion data
comprehension is:
- extracted from sounds in Wernicke’s area
- passed over the arcuate fasciculus pathway
- to Broca’s area to be articulated as speech
contemporary model
language
reading, braille, syntax
temporal and frontal cortices are connected by pairs of dorsal and ventral language pathways, which are viewed as extensions of the dorsal and ventral visual streams
- Information from vision enters into the auditory language pathways via the dorsal and ventral visual streams and contributes to reading.
- Information from body sense regions of the parietal cortex also contributes to the dorsal and ventral language pathways, and likely contributes to touch language such as Braille.
- The dorsal and ventral language pathways are engaged in syntax
- dorsal pathway categorizing sounds in terms of frequency of association
- ventral pathway extracting meaning from the grammatical organization of words.
contemporary model
dorsal language pathways
- transform sound information into model representation
- to convert phonological information into articulation
- bottom-up - repeat nonsense words or phrases
- categorizing sounds in terms of frequency of association
contemporary model
ventral language pathways
- transform sound information into meaning
- to convert phonological information into semantic information
- top-down - assigning meaning to words and phrases, like when a word has various meanings
- extracting meaning from the grammatical organization of words.
cortical stimulation
produces either positive effects, eliciting vocalization, or negative effects, inhibiting the ability to vocalize or to use words properly, including a variety of aphasia-like errors
- total speech arrest or inability to vocalize spontaneously
- an error that results from stimulation throughout the shaded zones in the figure
- hesitation and slurred speech
- slurring results primarily from stimulation of the dorsal region of broca’s area and ventral facial regions of premotor and motor cortex
- Distortion and repetition of words and syllables
- stimulating broca and wernickes areas and occasionally face areas
- number confusion while counting
- stimulating Broca’s and Wernicke’s area
- inability to name objects despite retained ability to speak
- When the current is removed, a patient is able to name the object correctly, but naming difficulties arise
- stimulation throughout the anterior, Broca’s, and posterior Wernicke’s speech zone.
TMS
- can be used noninvasively to explore the neural basis of language in healthy people
- can interfere with neuro-function, producing a virtual lesion lasting from tens of milliseconds, to as long as an hour
- relatively easy to use, can be used repeatedly, and when combined with MRI, can allow predetermined brain regions to be examined under controlled experimental conditions
TMS drawbacks
- the stimulator produces a sound that can cure a participant, or subject to the stimulation
- the stimulation must pass through the skull and maninges, and can cause muscle contractions, discomfort, and pain
- stimulation does not easily access regions located deep within the sulci
TMS used to map specific brain regions
such as
- used to map specific brain regions, such as broca’s area as shown in the work of Kim
- A number of brain imaging studies suggest that the anterior region of broca’s area is implicated in semantic processing, the processing of the meaning of words.
- While the posterior region of broca’s area is implicated in phonological processing, the production of words.
word generation task
passively presented words either visually or orally to a passive participant
output task
the participant was asked to repeat the word.
association task
participant was asked to suggest a use for the object named by the target word
Speech Regions Connectome using brain imaging
- no overlap occurred in visual and auditory activation during the passive task → processing word forms in the two modalities is completely independent
- during the speaking tasks, bilateral activation occurred in the motor and sensory facial areas and in the supplementary speech area, as well as in the right cerebellum
- generating verbs activated the frontal lobe, especially the left inferior region including Broca’s area
- verb generation task also activated the posterior temporal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and cerebellum
Wagner
task: presented participants with a single cue word and four target words
- task - indicate which target word was most closely and globally related to the cue, thus measuring the participant’s ability to retrieve meaningful information
- An area in the left premotor cortex just dorsal to Broca’s area became active during this task.
Martin
asked participants to name tools or animals and subtracted activation produced by the brain response to animals from the brain response to tools
Naming tools activated a region of premotor cortex also activated by imagined hand movements.
Damasio
naming persons, animals, and tools activated specific locations in Area 2-E, the inferior temporal lobe
how is language mapped
language is mapped onto circuits ordinarily engaged in more primary functions: visual attributes of words in visual areas, auditory attributes in auditory brain regions etc
core language networks
- consists of 5 functional modules, each involving a particular function, such as hearing, in yellow, converting sound to meaning, red, or articulating language, purple
- Each model consists of multiple nodes, the circles, that likely serve a common function. That is, a single node could be active in producing phonemes representing animal words or representing word actions, and so on.
fedorenko
language networks
- high level language activity, such as a discourse, will involve many functional modules, whereas activity in only a few modules or even a single module will generate a language of function, such as recognizing that a sound is a word
- By interacting with other brain networks, for example an attentional network, language can be focused as might occur when two people hear only each other at a noisy party
neural web
- Nodes can be single cells or collections of cells and a web consists of nodes and their two-way connections.
- Any given web will include nodes within primary and secondary auditory areas, as well as within primary and secondary motor regions.
- If a word contains visual content, the web includes visual brain areas.
- If it contains motor content, the web includes motor areas.
aphasia
may refer to a language disorder apparent in speech, in writing, also called agraphia, or in reading, also called alexia, produced by injury to brain areas specialized for these functions
non aphasic distrubances
- disturbances of language due to severe intellectual impairments, to loss of sensory input especially vision and hearing, or to paralysis or incoordination of the musculature of the mouth or hand are not considered aphasic disturbance
- these may accompany aphasia, however, and they complicate its study
fluent aphasia
- fluent speech but difficulties either in auditory verbal comprehension or in the repetition of words, phrases, or sentences spoken by others
- impairments related mostly to language input or reception
- includes: wernicke, trascortical, conduction, anomic
wernicke’s aphasia
fluent aphasia
- fluent speech without articulatory disorders
- inability to comprehend words or to arrange sounds into coherent speech, even though word production remains intact
- poor repetition
- word salad
- deficits:
- classifying sounds
- producing speech
- writing
transcortical aphasia (isolation syndrome)
fluent aphasia
- people can repeat and understand words and name objects, but cannot speak spontaneously, or they cannot comprehend words
- fluent speech without articulatory disorders, good repetition
- deficits:
- comprehension poor
- because words fail to arouse associations
- production poor
- even though word production is abnormal, words are not associated with other cognitive activities in the brain
- comprehension poor
conduction aphasia
fluent aphasia
- fluent, sometimes halting speech, but without articulatory disorders, fairly good comprehension
- people with this disorder can speak easily, name objects and understand speech, but they cannot repeat words
- disconnection between the perceptual word image and the motor systems happened
- word repetitions
anomic aphasia
fluent aphasia
- fluent speech without articulatory disorders
- intact comprehension, production of meaningful speech, and a well-conserved speech repetition,
- have great difficulty finding the names of objects
- Difficulty in finding nouns appear to result from damage throughout the temporal cortex
- verb finding deficits are more likely to come from left frontal injuries
- Although the extent to which the brain differentiates between nouns and verbs may seem surprising, we can see that they have very different functions. Nouns are categorizers. Verbs are action words that form the core, or syntactical structure. It makes sense to find that they are separated in such a way that nouns are a property of brain areas controlling recognition and classifications, while verbs are a property of brain’s areas controlling movement.
- naming objects
nonfluent aphasia
continue to understand speech but has to labor to produce it
- person speaks in short phrases interspersed with pauses, makes sound errors and repetitious errors in grammar, and frequently, omits function words
- Only the key words necessary for communication are used
- the deficit is not one of making sounds but rather of switching from one sound to another
- includes: broca, transcortical motor, global
- fundamental language sounds
- individual sound units whose concatenation produces morphenes
phonemes
enables human’s to produce sound consists of two sets of parts
- source
- filters: the length and shape of vocal tract determine sound characteristics
- Air exhaled from the lungs drives oscillation of the vocal cords, also termed the vocal folds, located in the larynx. The acoustical energy generated then passes through the vocal tract and finally out to the nostrils and lips.
to produce sound
- human oral cavity is longer than in other apes
- human larynx is situated much lower in the throat
speech anatomy in humans vs apes
- includes the inferior frontal gyrus and the superior temporal gyrus
- Parts of surrounding gyri, including the ventral parts of the precentral and postcentral gyri, the supramarginal gyrus, the angular gyrus, and the medial temporal gyrus, also lie within the core language regions.
- insula, heschl’s gyrus
- parts of the superior temporal gyrus, referred to as the anterior and posterior superior temporal planes, ASTP and PSTP
language areas
fissures and gyri
- 45 and 44: broca’s area
- 22: wernicke’s area
- language regions also include parts of areas 4, 9, 1, 2, 3, 40, 39, and 21, as well as the dorsal premotor area 6, also named the supplementary motor area
- This model reconceptualization of the anatomy within and surrounding Broca’s area points to a conclusion. Many challenges remain before we fully understand the anatomical basis of language. In addition, many right hemisphere regions also participate in language.
brodmann’s areas
broca’s
wernicke’s
other language regions and model probs
based entirely on lesion data
comprehension is:
- extracted from sounds in Wernicke’s area
- passed over the arcuate fasciculus pathway
- to Broca’s area to be articulated as speech
wernicke-geschwind model
temporal and frontal cortices are connected by pairs of dorsal and ventral language pathways, which are viewed as extensions of the dorsal and ventral visual streams
- Information from vision enters into the auditory language pathways via the dorsal and ventral visual streams and contributes to reading.
- Information from body sense regions of the parietal cortex also contributes to the dorsal and ventral language pathways, and likely contributes to touch language such as Braille.
- The dorsal and ventral language pathways are engaged in syntax
- dorsal pathway categorizing sounds in terms of frequency of association
- ventral pathway extracting meaning from the grammatical organization of words.
contemporary model
produces either positive effects, eliciting vocalization, or negative effects, inhibiting the ability to vocalize or to use words properly, including a variety of aphasia-like errors
- total speech arrest or inability to vocalize spontaneously
- an error that results from stimulation throughout the shaded zones in the figure
- hesitation and slurred speech
- slurring results primarily from stimulation of the dorsal region of broca’s area and ventral facial regions of premotor and motor cortex
- Distortion and repetition of words and syllables
- stimulating broca and wernickes areas and occasionally face areas
- number confusion while counting
- stimulating Broca’s and Wernicke’s area
- inability to name objects despite retained ability to speak
- When the current is removed, a patient is able to name the object correctly, but naming difficulties arise
- stimulation throughout the anterior, Broca’s, and posterior Wernicke’s speech zone.
cortical stimulation
- can be used noninvasively to explore the neural basis of language in healthy people
- can interfere with neuro-function, producing a virtual lesion lasting from tens of milliseconds, to as long as an hour
- relatively easy to use, can be used repeatedly, and when combined with MRI, can allow predetermined brain regions to be examined under controlled experimental conditions
TMS
- no overlap occurred in visual and auditory activation during the passive task → processing word forms in the two modalities is completely independent
- during the speaking tasks, bilateral activation occurred in the motor and sensory facial areas and in the supplementary speech area, as well as in the right cerebellum
- generating verbs activated the frontal lobe, especially the left inferior region including Broca’s area
- verb generation task also activated the posterior temporal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and cerebellum
Speech Regions Connectome using brain imaging
- consists of 5 functional modules, each involving a particular function, such as hearing, in yellow, converting sound to meaning, red, or articulating language, purple
- Each model consists of multiple nodes, the circles, that likely serve a common function. That is, a single node could be active in producing phonemes representing animal words or representing word actions, and so on.
core language networks
