language

Question 1

what is language?

Answer 1

a system for representing and communicating information about the world using symbols and rules

Question 2

how has language evolved over time?

Answer 2

ancestral language
regional dialects
modern language families (eg. Romance languages)

Question 3

name the 5 functional components of language?

Answer 3

1. articulation
2. phonology
3. meaning
4. syntax
5. comprehension
   art pieces mean some cash

Question 4

define articulation

Answer 4

movement of tongue, lips or jaw to modify a sound wave

• classified by place and manner of articulation
• place is where the articulation takes place, eg. labial, alveolar, palatal
• manner is voiced or unvoiced (voice = accompanied by a tone or note), and fricative or plosive

Question 5

define phonology

Answer 5

the sound combinations from which the syllables and words of a language are built up

Question 6

define meaning

Answer 6

semantics

• representation in long term memory of concepts and the relations between them
• objects we can recognise and name, and emotions attached with them

Question 7

define syntax

Answer 7

arrangement of words and phrases to create well formed sentences in a language

relies on grammatical markers and word order

Question 8

define comprehension

Answer 8

representing the meaning of words spoken or written by another person
-takes into account context, pitch and stress

Question 9

what is language thought to be dependent on?

Answer 9

a left hemisphere network of cortical regions and white matter connections called the language network

-anterior

Question 10

what is the auditory cortex critical for?

Answer 10

understanding speech

Question 11

anterior region of the temporal lobe is involved in?

Answer 11

meaning

left and right temporal poles are associated with the cortex, where we first experience things

Question 12

arcuate fasiculus/Fasciculus Arcuatus

Answer 12

connects Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area in the brain

Question 13

role of wernikes area?

Answer 13

decoding incoming speech signal

Question 14

name some different parts of the brain involved in the cerebral comprehension of language?

Answer 14

• Broca’s Area
• Arcuate fasiculus
• Auditory Cortex
• Wernicke’s Area

Question 15

what is syntax dependent on?

Answer 15

left interior frontal gyrus

Question 16

describe comprehension in terms of the brain regions involved

Answer 16

• primary auditory cortex
• temporal poles
• left inferior frontal gyrus
• arcuate fasciculus
• left posterior superior
• temporal gyrus

Question 17

name 2 types of brain damage that can cause language impairment

Answer 17

stroke and neurodegeneration

Question 18

stroke can cause 4 different impairments - what are they?

Answer 18

Broca’s aphasia
Wernickes aphasia
Conduction aphasia
Adynamic aphasia

Question 19

what is the commonest form of language change?

Answer 19

haemorrhagic or ischaemic stroke

Question 20

Brocas aphasia

Answer 20

haemorrhagic stroke, damage to Broca's area
-difficulty with articulation 
-fragmented speech 
-reduced comprehension 
BUT they understand meaning

Question 21

Wernickes aphasia

Answer 21

penetrating brain injury, damage of posterior regions of language network
speech is fluent but has meaningless phonological strings

Question 22

Conduction aphasia

Answer 22

lacunar stroke, damage to posterior perisylvanian regions
difficulty with repetition
-mild fluency and comprehension difficulties

Question 23

Dynamic aphasia

Answer 23

left anterior cerebral artery (MCA) infarction, damage to left inferior frontal gyrus

rarest aphasia

-difficulty planning, initiating or maintaining speech
-reduced, fragmentary, echoic, perseverative speech
TEST: high vs. low constraint sentence completion

Question 24

give examples of brain damage (language-related) that neurodegeneration can lead to?

Answer 24

non-fluent progressive aphasia
fluent progressive aphasia
logopenic progressive aphasia

Question 25

non-fluent progressive aphasia

Answer 25

caused by primary tauopathy

slow, distorted, agrammatic speech production

• begins with subtle changes, follows a progressive course
• patient experiences phonological and grammatical errors in spontaneous speech
• single word comprehension well preserved

Question 26

fluent progressive aphasia

Answer 26

caused by TDP-43 proteinopathy in anterior temporal regions

normal sounding speech rate, but the production of empty content. It begins with subtle word-finding changes.

The ability to use generic words and pronouns in spontaneous speech is retained, but there are profound single word comprehension difficulties.

Question 27

logopenic progressive aphasia

Answer 27

Alzheimer’s disease, posterior perisylvian region

starts with subtle word-finding changes, and progresses to the poverty of speech output

occasional errors in syntax and phonology
poor sentence repetition