Chapter 19: Language and Hemispheric Assymetry

Question 1

Define communication:

Answer 1

Transmission of information between individuals

Question 2

Define Language:

Answer 2

A highly specialized form of communication in which arbitrary symbols or behaviors are assembled and reassembled in almost infinite variety and associated with a vast range of things, actions, and concepts

Question 3

Define Grammer:

Answer 3

The set of rules for a given language

Question 4

Define Phonemes:

Answer 4

Basic speech sounds of a language

Question 5

Define Morphemes:

Answer 5

Combinations of phonemes into a simple unit of meaning. example: Unfathomable contains the morphemes; un-. fathom, -able.

Question 6

Define Semantics:

Answer 6

Combination of morphemes into words which have meaning.

Question 7

Define Syntax:

Answer 7

Rules for constructing a meaningful string of morphemes (complete sentences or phrases); an element of grammar.

Question 8

What language develops a baby’s language skills in early development?

Answer 8

Parantese: The singsong speech that parents universially use with babies. The lilting qualities of parentese convey emotional tone and reward

Question 9

What is important to note in the development of language?

Answer 9

Language acquisition has a critical/sensitive period.

Cases of restored hearing and isolation where speech was not recovered yields evidence for this.

It’s also easier for children to acquire language before age 11. after age 11 different brain regions are used for different languages.

Question 10

Which function does hand movement serve in speech?

Answer 10

Hand movements facilitate speech. When prevented from making gestures more slipups and pauses occur.
People blind from birth also make hand gestures when they speak.
Sign language will occur in deaf people even without access to another language.

Question 11

What role does the FOXP2 gene play?

Answer 11

It’s important for the normal acquisition of language.
A specific mutation in FOXP2 slows the learning of speech down considerably in children, who also will suffer long-lasting difficulties with certain language tasks

Question 12

What kind of gene is FOXP2?

Answer 12

Regulatory gene: It produces protein which controls the expression of a number of other genes (transcription factor), affecting the growth and interconnection of neurons during development.

Question 13

mutation in three genes are connected to stuttering, which genes? and what roles do they play?

Answer 13

GNPTAB, GNPTG, and NAGPA play a part in the normal functioning of lysosomes, organelles involved in breakdown of cellular waste materials.

Question 14

Animals also show vocal learning and produce vocalizations to transfer information. What is the interesting biological parallel with humans in this regard?

Answer 14

Studies with mice have shown that their ultrasonic vocalizations are impaired when their Foxp2 gene is mutated.
Studies with Birds show that silenced Foxp2 expression in Nucleus “x” of paraolfactory lobe led to learning difficulties of singing. The birds made errors reminiscent of human errors.

Question 15

Male birds learn to sing similar to the fashion humans learn speech. What are the three steps birds go through?

Answer 15

1. Exposure from another male tutor (usually a father)
2. Trial and error period. Bird makes successive approximations of a stored model
3. Crystallization of the song

Question 16

What is the syrinx? and can you describe the two pathways used to control it?

Answer 16

Syrinx is the vocal organ of the bird.

1. The direct pathway which goes from the high vocal center (HVC) -> nucleus robustus of the archistriatum (RA) -> Brainstem nucleus of the twelfth cranial nerve (n XII -> syrinx.
2. The long pathway starts at HVC -> Nucleus “X” in paraolfactory lobe -> Medial dorsolateral nucleus of the thalamus (DLM) -> Lateral magnocellar nucleus of the anterior neostriatum (LMAN) -> RA -> n XII -> syrinx

Question 17

Do only male birds sing?

Answer 17

Yes but there are exceptions. Female birds memorise their fathers song for future selct of mates.
Songbird species like the plain-tailed wren both male and female sing duets.

Question 18

What is the wada test?

Answer 18

Injecting a hemisphere with anesthetic sodium amytal which temporarily shuts down the hemisphere for a few minutes. During the shutdown different behavioral tests are administered to determine hemispherical specialization.

Question 19

Name the structures important for both speech production and comprehension.

Answer 19

Broca’s area, Primary motor cortex, Primary auditory cortex, Supramarginal gyrus, Angular gyrus, and Wernicke’s area

Question 20

What is Paraphasia?

Answer 20

Insertion of incorrect sounds or words in speech production

Question 21

What is neologisms?

Answer 21

Nonsense words

Question 22

What is Apraxia?

Answer 22

A motor impairment characterized by great difficulties in executing a sequence of movements that is not related to weakness, paralysis, lack of coordination, or any kind of sensory problems

Question 23

Which five aphasia do the authors mention?

Answer 23

1. Nonfluent (Broca’s) Aphasia
2. Fluent (Wernicke’s) Aphasia
3. Global Apahasia
4. Conduction Aphasia
5. Subcortical Aphasia.

Question 24

Describe Nonfluent (Broca’s) Aphasia

Answer 24

Language impairment, caused by lesions in Broca’s area, characterized by difficulty in speech production

Often patients also suffer from hemiplegia, paralysis of one side of the body, because primary and supplementary motor cortex are in proximity to Broca’s area

Question 25

Describe Fluent (Wernicke’s) Aphasia

Answer 25

Language impairment characterized by fluent, but meaningless, speech and missing comprehension of language.

Word deafness (unable to understand speech) stems from superior temporal lobe damage.
Word blindness (unable to understrand written speech) stems from damage to angular gyrus.

Question 26

Describe Global Aphasia

Answer 26

An aphasia where patients can neither understand nor produce language.

Question 27

Describe Conduction Aphasia

Answer 27

A Lesion of the arcuate fasciculus which disrupts transfer of information from Wernicke’s to Broca’s.

Question 28

What are the two conflicting theories of motor control and language?
Can you shortly describe them?

Answer 28

Traditional connectionist model and the motor theory of language
Connectionist model is selfexplanatory
The motor theory of language is a seemingly modular theory

Question 29

How do we repeat a heard word?

Answer 29

According to connectionist model the sounds are processed in primary auditory cortex then it’s transmitted to Wernicke’s area, which determines what word was said. Wernicke’s are the transmits this to Broca’s which forms a motor plan which is transmitted to primary motor cortex for execution.

Question 30

How do we repeat a written word?

Answer 30

According to a connectionist model primary visual cortex analyzes the image and transmits it to the angular gyrus which then, after decoding information and recognizing the word associated with the visual form, sends it to Wernicke’s area. Wernicke associates the word with it’s spoken form and transmits this to Broca’s area which forms a motor plan that is send to primary motor cortex for execution

Question 31

What usually causes dyslexia, besides lesions in the left hemisphere?

Answer 31

anomalies in arrangement of cortical neurons in frontal and temporal lobe. It is theorized that this is caused by defective neuronal migration, cells migrating into the cerebral cortex, in fetal development. Results in excessive cortical folding (micropolygyria) and nests of extra cells (ectopias).

Question 32

Developmental dyslexia has a genetic component. Which genes are implicated?

Answer 32

Finish studies has found two genes DYX1 and ROBO1 which has been linked to reading disorders.

Other studies found DCDC2, which is believed to participate in the migration of neurons towards their positions in the cortex, predicting reading performance in a large analysis of families.

KIAA0319 was found to cause the cortical ectopias observed in humans with dyslexia

Question 33

Electrical stimulation and TMS can map the cortical surface. Focusing on TMS; two locations interrupt different functions of production

Answer 33

Subregions in Broca’s.
Anterior and ventral division attributed importance for semantic meaning of words.
Posterior subregion associated with phonological processing.
Supermarginal gyrus is involved in both semantiv and phonological aspects of language

Question 34

What sort of studies are most prevalent in lateralization?

Answer 34

Studies using split-brain patients

Question 35

What are the biggest finds in lateralization or specialization?

Answer 35

Identifying language through various modalities is strongest in the left hemisphere or the right sensory field (contra-lateral field).
The right hemisphere is dominant in processing spatial information, prosody (emotional tone of voice), and other tasks

Question 36

What spatial information processing is the right hemisphere particularly important for?

Answer 36

Recognizing faces

Recognizing objects.

Question 37

Lesions to what region is usually involved in prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces)

Answer 37

The fusiform gyrus

It can also be caused developmentally