Language Flashcards
What are the components of language structure?
○ Phonemes: Individual sound units.
○ Morphemes: Smallest meaningful units of a word.
○ Lexicon: Collection of all words in a given language.
○ Syntax: Grammar - admissible combinations of words in phrases and sentences.
○ Semantics: Meanings that correspond to all lexical items and all possible sentences.
○ Prosody: Vocal intonation (tone of voice).
○ Discourse: Linking sentences to constitute a narrative.
How is sound produced for language?
○ Air is exhaled from the lungs, oscillating the vocal cords.
○ Acoustical energy passes through the vocal tract and out through the nostrils and lips.
○ The length and shape of the vocal tract determine formant characteristics.
○ The rate of vocal-cord oscillation determines pitch.
○ Human language uses larynx movements to form syllables.
○ Face, body, and arm movements contribute to nonverbal language
What are the four core skills underlying human language?
- Categorization
- Labeling categories
- Sequencing behavior
- Mimicry
How does the brain categorize sensory information?
○ Multiple neural channels process incoming sensory stimulation simultaneously.
○ The brain sorts the information to determine what object in the external world it corresponds to.
○ The ventral visual stream is involved with object categorization, and the dorsal stream is involved with making distinctions between objects.
What does labeling categories involve?
Identifying and organizing information within a category.
How is sequencing behavior related to language?
○ Involves organizing actions, events, or elements in a specific order.
○ Sequencing words to represent meaningful actions uses dorsal-stream frontal cortex circuits.
○ Language follows grammatical and syntactical rules that specify word order.
How does mimicry contribute to language development?
○ Imitating or reproducing behaviors, sounds, or patterns.
○ Fosters language development.
○ Babbling shows tones and sounds similar to the language babies are exposed to.
○ Mirror neurons in cortical language regions enable mimicking sounds, words, and actions.
What brain areas are involved in language?
A large network in the temporal, parietal, and frontal lobes from both hemispheres contributes to language, including:
○ Broca’s area: Inferior frontal gyrus
○ Wernicke’s area: Superior temporal gyrus
○ Parts of the middle temporal gyrus
○ Inferior parietal and angular gyrus in the parietal lobe
○ Ventral premotor: Related to facial movements, mirror neurons.
○ Dorsal premotor: Responsible for rhythmic mouth movements.
○ Thalamus, cerebellum, motor pathways, and many other connecting pathways.
Describe the Wernicke-Geschwind model.
The classical model of anterior and posterior speech zones:
○ Comprehension is extracted from sounds in Wernicke’s area.
○ Sound information is passed over the arcuate fasciculus.
○ Broca’s area then articulates it as speech.
What are the functions of the dorsal and ventral language pathways?
The temporal and frontal cortices are connected by pairs of language pathways:
○ Dorsal language pathways (phonemes): Transform sound information into motor representation.
○ Ventral language pathways (semantics): Transform sound information into meaning.
○ Both pathways are involved in syntax and short- and long-term memory for phonetic and semantic components of speech.
What are the five functional modules of the core language network?
- Hearing: Converting sound to meaning.
- Articulating language
- Word recognition
- Cognitive control
○ Each activity may activate one or many modules depending on complexity.
○ These language networks can interact with other brain networks.
What are some disorders of language comprehension and production?
Language function depends on a complex interaction of sensory information, motor skills, learned syntactic patterns, and verbal memory. Disorders can affect:
○ Comprehension:
■ Poor auditory comprehension
■ Poor visual comprehension
○ Production:
■ Poor articulation
■ Word-finding deficit (anomia)
■ Unintended words or phrases (paraphasia)
■ Loss of grammar and syntax
■ Low verbal fluency
■ Inability to write (agraphia)
What are the main types of aphasia?
○ Fluent Aphasia: Fluent speech but difficulties with verbal comprehension or repetition.
○ Nonfluent Aphasia: Difficulties articulating but relatively good auditory verbal comprehension.
○ Pure Aphasia: Selective impairments in reading, writing, or recognizing words without other language disorders.
What are the types of fluent aphasia?
Associated with language input or reception:
○ Wernicke’s aphasia: Inability to comprehend words or arrange sounds into coherent speech.
■ Deficit in sound characterization
■ Speech deficit (word salad)
■ Writing impairment
○ Transcortical aphasia: Cannot speak spontaneously but can repeat and understand words.
○ Conduction aphasia: Can speak easily, name objects, and understand speech, but cannot repeat words.
○ Amnesic aphasia: Comprehends, produces, and repeats speech, but has difficulty finding object names.
Describe Broca’s aphasia.
○ Understands speech but has difficulty producing it.
○ Uses only key words necessary for communication.
○ Difficulty arises from switching between sounds, not making the sounds themselves.
