Language

Question 1

Broca’s Aphasia: Typical Features

• Short fragments of speech, with…
• Slowed…
• Poorly…
• Problem with…
• Speech can be…
• Comprehension can be…
• Key vocabulary is…

Answer 1

many pauses
effortful
articulated
producing fluent speech with missing grammatical function words
telegraphic
normal
intact

Question 2

Wernicke’s Aphasia: Typical Features
- Speech fluent, well articulated; function words present
- BUT…
Comprehension of speech:
- Can be…
- Can’t obey…
- Cannot point to a picture for a word (e.g., horse).

Different individuals make different kinds of errors:

• Phonemic paraphasias and neologisms
• Semantic paraphasias (other word substitutions)
• Omission of content words, “empty” speech

Answer 2

speech may be empty or nonsensical
severely impaired
commands

e. g. expressions -> eksprehsez and kaynit
e. g. children -> boys

Question 3

Classical Model of Language:
Broca's area =
Wernicke's area = 
Info is transmitted between the two via... 
Damage causes...

Notes:

• Broca’s area is the hub for…
• Wernicke’s area is the hub for…
• B and W areas are connected by…
• Broca’s area in the…
• Wernicke’s area at tip of…

Further suggested the bunch of fibres which run between the two centres, damage to the fibres that connected B and W aphasia, come up with a different aphasia, purposed that difficult to repeat words, because if need W area to process the auditory representations of words and need B area to pronounce the words, a task that instructs to go directly from one to the other (like repeating a word after hearing it), would disproportionately be affected if have damage to connecting fibres

Answer 3

production (“articulatory images” of words)
comprehension (“auditory images”)
arcuate fasciculus.
conduction aphasia, a difficulty repeating words

storing the articulatory images of words (representation of words)
storing the auditory images (representation of how words sound)
white matter fibres called arcuate fasciculus.
pre-frontal cortex, ventral lateral section on LH
posterior superior temporal lobe on LH

Question 4

Problems with Classical Model
1. classical syndromes can…

• B and W areas not the only parts involved in language
• 50% of the brain is devoted to communication/language

2. Not all aphasia cases…
   - About 40% of aphasia cases unclassifiable on Boston assessment!
3. Symptoms of each…
   - Broca’s aphasia:
   - Wernicke’s aphasia:

Notes:

• Different symptoms for different people diagnosed with W aphasia
• Model is not capturing the dissociations to see the differences between cases
• Variation in kind of errors

Answer 4

arise from damage outside key areas

fit the classifications

syndrome dissociate

articulation problems vs. sentence comprehension impairment
neologisms vs. semantic paraphasias

Question 5

Decomposing Language:
Current models of language identify at least five different cognitive functions that are crucial for effective language communication

Understanding speech:

1. Ability to recognise…
2. Ability to match…

Producing Speech:

3. Ability to select…
4. Ability to recall…
5. Ability to…

Answer 5

familiar words when we hear them
words to their meanings

the right word to express a chosen meaning
the sound structure of a word to be produced
programme the articulators correctly to say the word

Question 6

Hickok and Poeppel’s Dual Stream Model:
DORSAL PROCESSING STREAM:
VENTRAL PROCESSING STREAM:

Notes:

• Focuses on planning sounds, production, organising words into sentences, planning motor articular movements
• Integrated network in LH

Answer 6

Sound based processing

Meaning based processing - temporal area

Question 7

1. Recognising Auditory Words

Understanding spoken language requires specialised auditory skills
These can become selectively impaired after brain damage =

Patient MS:

• Can’t discriminate…
• Hearing is normal when…
• Test: spoke a word and patient had to point to the picture
• Unable to discriminate between two similar sounding pictures
• Able to understand language when it’s written

Other features of pure word deafness:
Auditory lexical decision: Severely impaired
Word repetition: Severely impaired
Understanding of written words: normal

Voxel Based Lesion Mapping studies:
Critical region for these skill is the…

Answer 7

pure word deafness (deaf to speech)

similar-sounding words:
language not involved (e.g. detecting tones)

left posterior temporal lobe (including Wernicke’s area)

Question 8

2. Understanding Word Meanings
   A loss of knowledge of word meanings occurs in…

Some people can repeat words, but…
make semantic confusions on…

fMRI: Regions more activated for…
Activation is more…

Answer 8

Semantic Dementia
can’t give their meanings
word-picture matching

REAL WORDS than nonsense words
anterior than for mere speech sounds

Question 9

Word production involves many of the same processes as comprehension:

need to have precise semantic knowledge of the concept we want to express
Patients with semantic dementia (anterior temporal lobe pathology) have…

Answer 9

trouble producing the right words (loss of general knowledge) - lack of recognition when a error is made

Question 10

But production also requires unique skills:
Once we have a concept to express, current models identify these three further stages or processes

1. Word Selection =
2. Phonological retrieval =
3. Articulatory-motor planning =

• 3 major stages involved in producing a word
• Each stage supported by a different part of the brain

Answer 10

Choosing the word that best fits our meaning
Retrieving knowledge of its sound form
Constructing a motor plan to articulate it

Question 11

1. Lexical Selection

Damage to left posterior temporal lobe can cause... 
Characteristics:
- Speech may contain... 
- Can describe in detail the thing... 
- Sufferers very aware...

-Anomia: inability to find the names of things

Regions associated with difficulty naming pictures (implicated with anomia) despite good articulation and good knowledge retrieval =

This area predicts very poor ability…

fMRI study:

• picture naming task: region sensitive to word frequency
• rare words (harp)&raquo_space;> common words (fish)
• parametric design
• Varied the properties of the pictures named (covertly name the picture)
• Manipulated how long the words were, how familiar the concepts were, how rare or common the actual words were
• Rare words produced more activation than common words
• Basal temporal language area – key for making that link between concepts and their labels
• Varied something continuously and looked at the areas more responsive when varied it in a way that makes it harder for that process to occur

Answer 11

severe word-finding difficulties

long word-finding pauses
they can’t name
of their errors

Posterior temporal lobe (mid- to inferior portion)
to name pictures