Chapter 20: Language

Question 1

What is Aphasia?

Answer 1

Aphasia is the partial or complete loss of language abilities following brain damage, often without the loss of cognitive faculties or the ability to move the muscles used in speech

Question 2

What is the Wada Procedure?

Answer 2

A procedure in which a single hemisphere of the brain is anesthetized.

Question 3

Which barbiturate is commonly used in the Wada-Test?

Answer 3

Sodium Amytal

Question 4

Which hemisphere is dominant for speech in roughly 93% of all people?

Answer 4

The left hemisphere.

Question 5

Where is Broca’s Area located?

Answer 5

left frontal lobe

Question 6

What is Broca’s Aphasia?

Answer 6

Motor or nonfluent aphasia. The Person has difficulty speaking even though he or she can understand language heard or read

Question 7

What is anomia?

Answer 7

The inability to find words.

Question 8

What are the key elements of the Wernicke-Geschwind Model?

Answer 8

Brocas Area
Wernickes Area
Arcuate Fasciculus
A bundle of axons connecting the two cortical areas and the angular gyrus
It also includes motor and sensory areas

Question 9

Name the characeristics of Broca’s aphasie

Answer 9

Site of brain damage: Motor association cortex of frontal lobe
Comprehension: Good
Speech: Nonfluent, agrammatical
Impaired repetition: Yes
Paraphasic errors: Yes

Question 10

Name the characeristics of Wernicke’s aphasie

Answer 10

Site of brain damage: Posterior temporal lobe
Comprehension: Poor
Speech: Fluent, grammatical, meaningless
Impaired repetition: Yes
Paraphasic errors: Yes

Question 11

Name the characeristics of conduction aphasie

Answer 11

Site of brain damage: Arcuate fasciculus
Comprehension: Good
Speech: Fluent, grammatical
Impaired repetition: Yes 
Paraphasic errors: Yes

Question 12

What is characteristic about aphasia in bilinguals?

Answer 12

The first language tend to be more preserved than the second language.
When the person learned both languages equally (at the same time with same level) aphasia is similiar in both languages.

Question 13

What happens in split-brain studies?

Answer 13

The hemispheres are surgically disconnected

Question 14

Communication between the hemispheres is served by several bundles of axons known as….?

Answer 14

commissures

Question 15

What is the largest commissure?

Answer 15

corpus callosum

Question 16

Split brain Study: Numbers, Word, Pictures presented on the right visual field are processed by..?

Answer 16

the left hemisphere. Processing is normal. Object can be repeated described etc /same accounts for objects that can be only manipulated wit the right hand

Question 17

Split brain Study: Numbers, Word, Pictures presented on the lef visual field are processed by..? What is spacial ?

Answer 17

the right hemisphere. Person is unable to describe the object. Will say that there is nothing there.

Question 18

Split-brain study: even though object presented only to the right hemisphere cannot be verbally described. Explain why there has to be still some form of language comprehension.

Answer 18

For example:
Word “Ball” is presented to right hemisphere. Verbally the person will say i do not see anything however the left hand which is controlled by right hemisphere will pick up the right object in this case a ball.

Question 19

Electrical Stimulation of motor cortex causes…?

At other sites it causes?

Answer 19

Vocalization or speech arrest by activating facial muscles
(worked on either side of the brain)

aphasic arrest in which language is agrammatical or anomia is observed

Question 20

Which strange findings contradict eacht other regarding the wada procedure and fMRI studies?

Answer 20

Based on the Wada test of language laterilaziation subject had a dominant left hemisphere.
fMRI Scan showed however a bilateral activation so there was more going on in the nondominant hemisphere
(still debating to be continued….)

Question 21

How did scientist study the differences in brain activity when presenting participants sensory stimuli like viewing word or listening to words?

Answer 21

PET Study:
By subtracting the levels of blood flow at rest from the levels of blood flow during listening or seeing words, blood flow levels were specifically obtained corresponding to the acitvity evoked by the sensory input.

Question 22

What is dyspraxia?

Answer 22

Inability to produce the coordinated muscular movements needed for speech.

Question 23

According to the Wernicke-Geschwind Model. Describe what happens when repeating a spoken word.

Answer 23

Sound > auditory system processes sound > neural signals reach auditory cortex > Wernickes area > arcuate fasciculus > brocas area (here words are converted into code for muscular code for movement > motor cortical areas.

Question 24

According to Wernicke-Geschwind Model. Describe what happens when repeating a written word.

Answer 24

Information ist processed by the visual system through the striate cortex and higher-order visual cortical areas ( … the old version had no angular gyrus and wernicke for tranformation) > brocas area (converted into code …movement) > motor cortical areas