Language Flashcards
Confirmation of hemispheric specialization for language
split brain patients percieve the left visual information but cannot identify it using language. They percieve right visual information and can identify is using language because the BRoca’s area is on the same side?
Broca’s area
region essential for language production
Brain regions of the language in the left hemisphere
Auditory cortex, Wenicke’s area, * Angular gyrus (Geschwind’s area), Broca’s area, Arcuate fasiculus, and Motor cortex
Auditory cortex
temporal lobe, identify pitch and loudness of sounds
Wernicke’s area
Temporal lobe, comprehension of language
Angular gyrus
Parietal lobe, number and semantic processing, working memory
Broca’s area
Frontal lobe, production of language
Arcuate fasiculus
Axons connecting Broca’s an Wernicke’s areas
Motor cortex
Frontal lobe, motor control of mouth and lips
Wernicke’s Aphasia
Fluent speech but poor comprehension of language
Broca’s Aphasia
Speech is non-fluent, agrammatical, but can understand language
Conduction Aphasia
Lesion of arcuate fasiculus -> both expression and comprehension remain intact, but with an impairment to repeat words
Wernicke-Deschwind Model of Language: repeating a spoken word
Auditory cortex -> Wernicke’s Area -> Angular Gyrus -> Broca’s Area -> Motor Cortex
Wernicke-Deschwind Model of Language: repeating a written word
Visual Cortex -> Wernicke’s Area -> Angular Gyrus -> Broca’s Area -> Motor CortexVisual cortex ->
Dual-stream Model of language
Bi-directional transfer of information between ventral stream and dorsal stream
ventral stream
processes speech signals for comprehension
largely bilaterally organized
dorsal stream
maps acoustic speech signals to frontal lobe articulator networks for production
strongly left-hemisphere dominant
A Universal language network
The language network in the brain shows similar properties across 45 languages. The language areas are lateralized to the left hemisphere, selective for language, and strongly functionally inter-connected.
phonological development
the acquisition of knowledge about the sounds that distinguish meaning
Semantic development
Learning the system for expressing meaning in a language
Syntactic development
Learning the rules for combining words
Pragmatic development
Acquiring knowledge of how language is used, including conversational conventions
Structural Basis of Early Language Acquisition
Listening to speech activates extensive areas in the temporal lobe, with the activation strongly biased to the left hemisphere especially in infants
Social Impact on Language Acquisition
Infants learn more easily from interactions with human beings speaking another language than from audiovisual exposure to the same language material
The Critical Period for Language Acquisition
7 years
Difference in brain region activation between adults and children
Different brain areas are active during language-based tasks between children and adults.
Native and Second Languages
Second languages acquired in adulthood (‘late’ bilingual subjects) are spatially separated from
native languages (’early’ bilingual subjects) in the Broca’s area.
The Neurobiology of Sign Language
The neural systems supporting signed and spoken language are very similar.
Language and perception
- Russian speakers were faster to discriminate two colors when they fell into different linguistic
categories in Russian - Language and perception are two central cognitive systems that constantly interact and rely on
each other.
