Language Disorders Flashcards
1
Q
language basics
A
- Comes from word for tongue
- Combination of sound for communication (although ASL is included here too)
- Uniquely human (animals have similar abilities, but not language per say)
2
Q
7 components of language structure
A
- Phonemes: fundamental language sounds that form a word
- Morphemes: smallest meaningful units of words
- Lexicon: collection of all words in a given language
- Syntax: rules of grammar; thing that no other species appear to be able to do
- Semantics: meaning of words and sentences that correspond to all lexical items
- Prosody: vocal intonations (“tone of voice”)
- Discourse: stringing sentences together to form a meaningful narrative
3
Q
language in non-human animals
A
- Some success with ASL and “Yerkish” in chimpanzees
- Nim Chimpsky experiment – raised like a human in terms of language development, but never learned syntax
- Mothers who learned “Yerkish” passed it down to their babies
- Alex the Parrot showed impressive cognition and comprehension, including generativity
4
Q
key brain regions in language production
A
- Broca’s area
- Wernicke’s area
5
Q
Broca’s area (2 parts, damage)
A
- damage to it results in ability to understand speech, but cannot produce it (ex. “Tan” - man who could only say Tan after a stroke)
- 2 parts:
- Anterior region involved in semantical processing (meaning of words)
- Posterior region involved in phonetic production
6
Q
Wernicke’s area (damage)
A
damage to it results in ability to produce speech, but it’s non-sensical and may reflect lack of comprehension (“word salad”)
7
Q
anatomical areas associated with language
A
- Fissures and gyri
- Brodmann’s area
- Insula and medial superior temporal gyrus
- Arcuate fasciculus: white matter bundle travelling from Broca’s area to Wernicke’s area
8
Q
speech zone mapping with brain imaging techniques
A
- Through fMRI, Binder et al. Found that speech zones are widespread throughout the brain
- Different areas activated depending on tasks:
- Ex. Thinking about nouns activates 3 different areas
- Hearing overlaps more with Wernicke’s area, speaking overlaps more with Broca’s areas
9
Q
Wilder Penfield
A
identified and mapped neocortical language/speech zones during surgery
10
Q
Effects of cortical stimulation in speech zones
A
- Total arrest of speech
- Hesitation and slurring of speech
- Speech distortion and repetition of speech
- Number confusion while counting
- Naming difficulties
- Misnaming and perseveration
- These apply to modern stimulation (e.g. TMS)
11
Q
Wernicke-Geschwind Model
A
- the old theory
- word sounds sent to Primary Auditory cortex -> meaning represented in Wernicke’s area -> sent to Broca’s area -> Broca’s sends speech articulation to motor cortex
- when reading, visual cortex sends info to angular gyrus and to Wernicke’s or Broca’s area
- Damage to Broca’s area causes issues with production, damage to Wernicke’s area causes issues to comprehension
12
Q
Shortcomings to the Wernicke-Geschwind Model
A
- Doesn’t take into account many other brain regions involved
- Overly simplistic when it comes to “regions” of Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area, and directionality of flow
- Relied mostly on diffuse loss-of-function studies
13
Q
Dual-Language Pathway theory
A
- contemporary theory
- language moving in multiple directions: bottom-up/dorsal language pathway and top-down/ventral language pathway
- area 6 (motor cortex) and 47 (semantics) often targets of flow of info
14
Q
Dual-Language Pathway theory: bottom-up/dorsal pathway
A
- language production
- phonetics
- used when repeating nonsense words
- short-term/working memory
- damage causes problems with speech production
15
Q
Dual-Language Pathway theory: top-down/ventral processes
A
- semantics/meaning of language
- separating homonyms
- long-term memory (vocabulary)
- damage causes problems understanding the meaning of words
