Language Flashcards
What is language?
→ A system for representing and communicating information about the world using symbols and rules
What is formal language?
→ A finite system of signs and rules for combination
What is articulation?
→ Movement of the tongue, lips and jaw to modify a soundwave
What are the 3 places of articulation?
→Labial
→ Alveolar
→ Palatal
What are the two manners of articulation?
→ Voiced vs. unvoiced
→ Fricative or plosive
What is phonology?
→ The sound combinations from which the syllables and words of a language are built up
What is meaning?
→ The representation in long term memory of concepts and the relations between them
What is syntax?
→ The arrangement of words and phrases to create well formed sentences
What does syntax rely on?
→ Grammatical markers and word order
What is comprehension?
→ The ability to represent the meaning of words or sentences spoken or written by another person
What are the 4 things required for comprehension?
→ context
→ pitch
→ Stress
→ prosody
What is the cerebral organisation of language dependent on?
→ left hemisphere
→ language network
What region of the brain is involved in meaning?
→ anterior regions of the temporal lobe
What does Wernicke’s area do?
→ Decoding speech signals
What does the arcuate fasciculus do?
→ connects the anterior and posterior parts of the language network together
What parts of the brain does articulation and phonology depend on?
→ Inferior and opercular parts of the motor cortex
→ Anterior portion of Brocas area
Describe the temporal cortex?
→ Densely interconnected with widespread regions of association cortex
What area of the brain is syntax dependent on?
→ frontal areas (left inferior frontal gyrus)
What areas of the brain are involved in comprehension?
→ Primary auditory cortex
→ temporal poles
→ left inferior frontal gyrus
→ Arcuate fasciculus
→ Left posterior superior temporal gyrus
What are the 4 types of change in language after brain damage?
→ Broca’s aphasia
→ Wernicke’s aphasia
→ Conduction aphasia
→ Adynamic aphasia
What is speech like in Broca’s aphasia?
→ halting
→ fragmented
→ distorted
→ agrammatic
What is comprehension like in Broca’s aphasia?
→ Preserved for words
→ reduced for sentences
What are typical pathologies that lead to Broca’s aphasia?
→ Middle cerebral artery infarction
→ Haemorrhagic stroke
What is speech like in Wernicke’s aphasia?
→ fluent
→ meaningless phonological strings
What is damaged in Wernicke’s aphasia?
→ Posterior regions of the language network
What are the typical pathologies that lead to Wernicke’s aphasia?
→ Penetrating brain injuries
→ cerebral haemorrhage
What is Wernicke’s aphasia also called?
→ Sensory or receptive aphasia
What is speech like in conduction aphasia?
→ Mild fluency and comprehension difficulties
What is the test for conduction aphasia?
→ single word and sentence repetition
What is damaged in conduction aphasia?
→ Posterior perisylvian regions and underlying white matter
What are the typical pathologies of conduction aphasia?
→ Lacunar stroke
What is speech like in dynamic aphasia?
→ Reduced
→ fragmentary
→ echoic
→ perseverative
What is dynamic aphasia?
→ Difficulty planning, initiating and maintaining speech
What is the test for dynamic aphasia?
→ High vs. low constraint sentence completion
→ they find it difficult to complete open ended sentences
What is damaged in dynamic aphasia?
→ anterior left inferior frontal gyrus
What are the typical pathologies in dynamic aphasia?
→ left anterior cerebral artery infarction
What is conduction aphasia?
→ Difficulty with repetition
What is Broca’s aphasia?
→ Difficulty with articulation and phonology
What are the 3 types of aphasia associated with neurodegeneration?
→ Non fluent progressive aphasia
→ Fluent progressive aphasia
→ Logopenic progressive aphasia
What is speech like in nonfluent progressive aphasia?
→ Slow
→ distorted and agrammatic speech
→ phonological and grammatical errors in spontaneous speech
→ difficulty understanding sentences
What is the typical pathology of nonfluent progressive aphasia?
→ Primary tauopathy
What is speech like in fluent progressive aphasia?
→ Normal sounding speech rate
→ production empty of content
→ generic word and pronoun use
→ profound single word comprehension difficulties
How does fluent progressive aphasia begin?
→ Subtle word finding changes
Where and what is the pathology in fluent progressive aphasia?
→ Anterior temporal regions
→ TDP-43 proteinopathy
What is speech like in logopenic progressive aphasia?
→ Poverty of speech output
→ occasional errors in syntax and phonology
→ poor sentence repetition
Where and what is the pathology in logopenic progressive aphasia?
→ posterior perisylvian pathology
→ Alzheimers
