Language Flashcards
What controls speech?
Speech is under UMN control, modulated by extrapyramidal and cerebellar systems
What is phonation?
Sound production by moving vocal cords (CN X)
What is articulation?
Sound production by actions and varied positions of lips, tongue, palate and pharynx (CN VII, IX, X, XII)
What is aphasia?
Disorder of previously acquired language ability from a language center lesion in the dominant hemisphere
Where are the language centers located
Around the lateral sulcus (Sylvian fissure) of the dominant hemisphere
What artery supplies the language centers?
MCA
What is the difference in function between Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area?
Wernicke’s: language comprehension
Broca’s: language expression & excecution
What is fluency?
Ease, facility and quantity of speech regardless of content or meaning
What is paraphasia?
Word or syllable substitutions. Can be phonemic/literal, semantic/verbal (change in meaning), or neologism (nonsense word)
What is Broca’s aphasia?
Lesion to Broca’s area in inferior frontal lobe causes laborious, effortful telegraphic nonfluency with preserved comprehension
What is Wernicke’s aphasia?
Lesion to Wernicke’s area in superior temporal lobe causes fluent, paraphasic speech with few meaningful words, poor comprehension
What brain region is affected in conductive aphasia?
The arcuate fasciculus, which is the tract between Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas
What can lesions of the posterior dominant hemisphere cause?
Alexia: impaired reading
Agraphia: impaired writing
What can lesions in the nondominant hemisphere cause?
Aprosodias: loss of emotional meaning associated with vocal pitch, inflection, melody and tone
Sensory: poor comprehension (Wernicke’s)
Motor: speaks without prasody (Broca’s)
