Chapter 3 - Sound and Language

Question 1

Two main input pathways for language

Answer 1

Audition and vision (and touch for Braille readers)

Question 2

Describe auditory pathways

Answer 2

Starts in the inner ear with the cochlea (frequency analyser) which decodes different frequencies in the sound, this analysis is sent to the primary auditory cortex in the superior temporal gyrus. Passed through a nucleus of the thalamus, the medial genicilate nucleus. Once received in the primary auditory cortex, sound information is analysed further in the auditory association cortex (remainder of superior temporal gyrus) where phonological processing takes place and diffuses towards surrounding brain areas involved in retrieval of word meaning (semantic memory).