Cog Neuro Book Ch 11 Vocabulary

Question 1

agrammatic aphasia (p. 481)

Answer 1

Difficulty producing and/or understanding the structure of sentences. Agrammatic aphasia is seen in brain-damaged patients who may speak using only content words, leaving out function words such as the and a.

Question 2

alexia (p. 494)

Answer 2

A neurological syndrome in which the ability to read is disrupted.
Alexia is frequently referred to as acquired alexia to indicate that it results from a neurological disturbance such as a stroke, usually including the occipitoparietal region of the left hemisphere.
In contrast, developmental alexia (dyslexia) refers to problems in reading that are apparent during childhood development. The phrases acquired alexia and developmental alexia are commonly used to indicate that reading is abnormal, either from a neurological disturbance or as part of development.

Question 3

anomia (p. 478)

Answer 3

A type of aphasia in which the person has difficulty generating the words used to label things in the world.

Question 4

aphasia (p. 477)

Answer 4

A language deficit following brain damage or disease.

Question 5

apraxia (p. 478)

Answer 5

1. A neurological syndrome characterized by loss of skilled or purposeful movement that cannot be attributed to weakness or an inability to innervate the muscles. Apraxia results from lesions of the cerebral cortex, usually in the left hemisphere. (Ch. 8)
2. Difficulty pronouncing words. (Ch. 11)

Question 6

arcuate fasciculus (p. 481)

Answer 6

A white matter tract that connects the posterior temporal region with frontal brain regions and is believed to transmit language-related information between the posterior and anterior brain regions.

Question 7

Broca’s aphasia (p. 478)

Answer 7

Also anterior aphasia, expressive aphasia, and nonfluent aphasia. The oldest and perhaps best-studied form of aphasia, characterized by speech difficulties in the absence of severe comprehension problems. However, Broca’s aphasics may also suffer from problems in fully comprehending grammatically complex sentences.
Compare Wernicke’s aphasia.

Question 8

Broca’s area (p. 480)

Answer 8

An area located in the left hemisphere of the frontal cortex, identified by Paul Broca in the 19th century, that is important to language production.
Compare Wernicke’s area.

Question 9

conduction aphasia (p. 481)

Answer 9

A form of aphasia that is considered a disconnection syndrome. Conduction aphasia may occur when the arcuate fasciculus, the pathway from Wernicke’s area to Broca’s area, is damaged, thereby disconnecting the posterior and anterior language areas.

Question 10

dysarthria (p. 477)

Answer 10

Difficulty saying words

Question 11

lexical access (p. 483)

Answer 11

The process by which perceptual inputs activate word information in the mental lexicon, including semantic and syntactic information about the word.

Question 12

lexical integration (p. 483)

Answer 12

The function of words being integrated into a full sentence, discourse, or large current context to discern the message.

Question 13

lexical selection (p. 483)

Answer 13

The process of selecting from a collection of representations the activated word that best matches the sensory input.

Question 14

mental lexicon (p. 483)

Answer 14

A mental store of information about words, including semantic information (meanings of the words), syntactic information (rules for using the words), and the details of word forms (spellings and sound patterns).

Question 15

morpheme (p. 483)

Answer 15

The smallest grammatical unit of a language that carries bits of meaning. Morphemes may or may not be whole words; for example, “dog,” “spit,” “un-,” and “-ly” are all morphemes. Compare phoneme.

Question 16

N400 response (p. 498)

Answer 16

Also simply the N400. A negative-polarity event-related potential that is elicited by words and that is larger in amplitude for words that do not fit well into the sentence context.
Compare P600 response.

Question 17

orthographic form (p. 483)

Answer 17

The vision-based form of a word in written language.

Compare phonological form.

Question 18

P600 response (p. 500)

Answer 18

Also syntactic positive shift (SPS). A positive-polarity event-related potential elicited when words violate syntactic rules in sentences. It is also see n in some cases of semantic violations with correct syntax.
Compare N400 response.

Question 19

phoneme (p. 483)

Answer 19

The smallest perceived unit of sound in a language. In English, there are 40 phonemes.
Compare morpheme.

Question 20

phonological form (p. 483)

Answer 20

The sound-based form of a word in spoken language. Compare orthographic form.

Question 21

semantic paraphasia (p. 484)

Answer 21

The production of a word related in meaning to the intended word (e.g., horse for cow) instead of the intended word itself. Wernicke’s aphasia patients often produce semantic paraphasias.

Question 22

Sylvian fissure (p. 477)

Answer 22

Also lateral fissure. A large fissure (sulcus) on the lateral surface of the cerebral cortex first described by the anatomist Franciscus Sylvius. The Sylvian fissure separates the frontal cortex from the temporal lobe below.

Question 23

syntactic parsing (p. 498)

Answer 23

The assignment of a syntactic structure to a word in a sentence (e.g., this word is the object of the sentence, and this word is the action).

Question 24

syntax (p. 481)

Answer 24

The rules that constrain word combinations and sequences in a sentence.

Question 25

Wernicke’s aphasia (p. 481)

Answer 25

Also posterior aphasia or receptive aphasia. A language deficit usually caused by brain lesions in the posterior parts of the left hemisphere, resulting in the inability to link words with the objects or concepts that they represent—that is, comprehension deficits.
Compare Broca’s aphasia.

Question 26

Wernicke’s area (p. 481)

Answer 26

An area of human left posterior superior temporal gyrus, identified by Carl Wernicke in the 19th century, that is important to language comprehension.
Compare Broca’s area.