Exam 4: Language and Lateralization

Question 1

left and right hemispheres of the brain are nearly ______
do they function independently?
are they identical?

Answer 1

mirror images of eachother
no
no

Question 2

corpus callosum

Answer 2

connects the right and left hemispheres

• bundle of axons
• allows for rapid communication and integration of sensory and motor information

Question 3

lateralization

Answer 3

hemisphere specialization
- handedness implicated in lateralization
10-15% population left handed - often excluded from analysis

Question 4

left hemisphere

Answer 4

• verbal abilities

- analysis of sequences

Question 5

right hemisphere (3)

Answer 5

• spatial cognition, puzzles, drawing
  (faces, geometric shapes, direction/navigation, 3D rotation of objects)
• organizing narrative (telling story)
• understanding prosody (emotional tone of voice)

Question 6

is there evidence that links 1 brain hemisphere to personality traits/strengths ? aka being creative or analytical

Answer 6

no

Question 7

injection of fast acting sedative sodium amytal into carotid artery unilaterally
- usually done to epileptics undergoing surgery

Answer 7

Wada Test

Question 8

What happens in a Wada test?

Answer 8

ipsilateral anesthesia - stimulates stroke (shuts down ipsilateral brain activity that receives blood from carotid)

• allows assessment of contralateral hemisphere
• helps determine “dominant hemisphere”

Question 9

Wada Test: injections into dominant speech hemisphere

Answer 9

patient temporarily mute

• usually left hemisphere
• rarely language lateralized to right hemisphere, these individuals usually left handed - not common

Question 10

Wada Test: injections into non-dominant speech hemisphere

Answer 10

negligible changes in speech

Question 11

what hemisphere is specialized for spoken language

Answer 11

left !

Question 12

dichotic presentation

Answer 12

• present sound to both ears simultaneously

- ask patient to identify BOTH sounds

Question 13

right ear advantage

Answer 13

right handed people identify verbal stimuli delivered to right ear better than left ear - 90% of time
- for left handed it is 50/50 which side they hear better from

Question 14

verbal information to the right ear is process by the ___ auditory cortex and passes directly to speech systems in the ____ hemisphere

Answer 14

left

left

Question 15

verbal information presented to left ear is first processed by _____ auditory cortex and then transmitted to speech systems in the ____ hemisphere

Answer 15

right

left

Question 16

Tachistoscope Test

Answer 16

• briefly presents visual stimuli to the left OR right half of the visual field without the other half being able to see

Question 17

verbal stimuli (words/letters) presented to ____ visual field recognized more accurately than when presented to the ____ visual field

Answer 17

right

left

Question 18

nonverbal stimuli (faces, shapes) presented to ____ visual field recognized more accurately than when presented to ____ visual field

Answer 18

left

right

Question 19

planum temporale

Answer 19

in temporal lobe
auditory processing, distinguishing fine details
- larger in left hemisphere
- includes part of Wernicke’s area
- asymmetry evident before substantial experience with speech

Question 20

which hemisphere does music activate more

Answer 20

right

• especially if instrumental and no words
• musical perception impaired by damage to right hemisphere
• only damage to BOTH can abolish musical perception

Question 21

which hemisphere is associated with perfect pitch

Answer 21

left

- measurements of left planum temporale are bigger in musicians with perfect pitch

Question 22

which hemisphere is essential for facial discrimination

Answer 22

right

Question 23

prosopagnosia

Answer 23

face blindness

people fail to recognize familiar faces, including their own

Question 24

what causes complete prosopagnosia?

Answer 24

bilateral damage to fusiform gyrus

- worse if the right fusiform gyrus

Question 25

split brain

Answer 25

corpus callosum severed to separate left and right brain hemispheres - treatment for epilepsy (seizures) (it helps dampen down the excitability) - NO behavioral/cognitive deficits - hemispheres cannot communicate with eachother - can do 2 diff tasks simultaneously (draw star and circle) - can cause disagreements

Question 26

split brain patients can verbally describe a stimulus presented to the ____ visual field but not one presented to the ___ visual field

Answer 26

right | left

Question 27

give right brain an object and ask left brain what it is they are holding and they will say nothing

Answer 27

split brain

Question 28

the sound output meant to convey meaning | produces sound waves - physical sound

Answer 28

speech

Question 29

ability to translate our ideas into signals for another person

Answer 29

language

Question 30

ability to convey meaning to others (transmission of information)

Answer 30

communication

Question 31

5 basic elements of language

Answer 31

``` phonemes morphemes semantics syntax pragmatics ```

Question 32

basic speech sounds

Answer 32

phonemes

Question 33

simple units of meaning | - breaking down unfathomable into un, fathom, and able

Answer 33

morphemes

Question 34

meanings of words or sentences

Answer 34

semantics

Question 35

grammatical rules for constructing phrases aand sentences

Answer 35

syntax

Question 36

context in which a speech sound is uttered

Answer 36

pragmatics

Question 37

neologism

Answer 37

entirely novel words - non-words

Question 38

aphasia

Answer 38

impaired ability to understand or produce language - typically caused by brain injury - 25-50% stroke patients experience aphasia - 90% due to left cerebral hemisphere damage (language area)

Question 39

substitution of word by a sound/incorrect word/unintended word/neologism

Answer 39

paraphasia

Question 40

why does language require complex networks of brain regions? (2)

Answer 40

- understand spoken and written language | - produce spoken and written language

Question 41

primary visual cortex is for what type of language

Answer 41

written language

Question 42

primary motor cortex is for which type of language

Answer 42

spoken

Question 43

transforms visual info into auditory (reading something aloud in your head)

Answer 43

angular gyrus

Question 44

axon fibers that connect Wernicke's and Broca's areas

Answer 44

arcuate fasciculus

Question 45

series of brain regions involved in repeating or responding to spoken word

Answer 45

1. primary auditory cortex 2. Wernicke's area 3. arcuate fasciculus 4. Broca's area 5. motor cortex

Question 46

series of brain regions involved in speaking a written word

Answer 46

1. primary visual cortex 2. angular gyrus 3. wernicke's area 4. Broca's area 5. motor cortex

Question 47

dorsal stream pathways (2)

Answer 47

- Wernicke's to premotor cortex (speech production, word repitition) - Wernicke's to Broca's (grammar)

Question 48

ventral stream language pathway

Answer 48

auditory cortex to Broca's (processing sounds and extracting meaning) - help interpret sounds

Question 49

Broca's area

Answer 49

in ventral posterior frontal lobe of dominant hemisphere (usually left) - speech production - speech motor plan generation (contains memories of sequences of muscular movements needed to articulate words) - how to make mouth say letter "m"

Question 50

Broca's aphasia

Answer 50

caused by lesions to Broca's area - expressive aphasia: difficulty expressing language - writing is equally impaired - language comprehension in tact - can understand what people are saying but cannot produce language, struggle to come up with words

Question 51

Insula in language

Answer 51

- mediates motor aspects of speech production - articulatory control - shares reciprocal function and structure connections with linguistic, motor, limbic, and sensory areas of brain

Question 52

Wernicke's area

Answer 52

- located on left superior temporal gyrus | - speech comprehension

Question 53

fluent (Wernicke's ) aphasia

Answer 53

damage to wernicke's area - can speak but no longer understand spoken language - jumbled, nonsensical words - contains many paraphasias ex: elaine from riverside

Question 54

arcuate fasciculus

Answer 54

bundle of axons connecting Broca's and Wernicke's areas

Question 55

conduction aphasia

Answer 55

- damage to arcuate fasciculus , paired with damage to supra marginal gyrus in parietal cortex - prevents language center in brain from communicating with speech center in brain - Broca's and Wernicke's areas spared but cannot connect

Question 56

supra marginal gyrus

Answer 56

implicated in ability to link words with meaning

Question 57

symptoms of conduction aphasia

Answer 57

- difficulty repeating words - paraphasic errors (picking wrong words) - errors during spontaneous speech

Question 58

angular gyrus

Answer 58

- found in inferior parietal lobe - involved in language and number processing, memory, learning (being able to make sense of meaning and content of written words) - nonverbal language understanding

Question 59

lesions to angular gyrus

Answer 59

- disconnect systems in visual and auditory language - patients can speak and understand but have difficulty reading aloud - dyslexia (word blindness) cannot process written language into auditory - could not read a recipe out loud to someone