Lecture 10 - Language Flashcards
What are the different components of language ?
- Phonemes : smallest unit of meaningful sounds
- Morphemes : smallest unit of meaning
- Lexicon
- Syntax
- Semantics
- Prosody : tone of voice
- Discourse
( - Pragmatics)
What are the 2 main theories about the origins of language ?
- Discontinuity theories : language evolved rapidly & appeared suddenly in modern humans (around 200.000y ago)
- Continuity theories : language evolved gradually
What is needed for (spoken) language ?
Motor speech apparatus : larynx
What is need to develop language ?
- Human environment : input & interaction (deprived & deaf children)
- Sensitive period : window of opportunity
What are the differences between Broca’s & Wernicke’s aphasia ?
- Broca’s : posterior part LIFG, laborious & non-fluent speech, limited writing, speech understanding & reading relatively intact
- Wernicke’s : boundary temporal-parietal lobes, fluent but disordered speech & writing, impaired understanding of speech & reading
What’s the basis of the classical model for language ?
- Comprehension from sounds in Wernicke’s area
- Passed over arcuate fasciculus pathway
- To Broca’s area to articulate speech
What are the problems/limitations of the classical model of language ?
- Mismatch aphasia-type & damaged area
- Limited to lexical level
- Broca’s area also for comprehension (semantics : meaning), Wernicke’s area also for production (syntax : grammar)
In what ways is language lateralized in the brain ?
- Production mostly in L hemisphere
- Lateralization strongest for production & syntax
- R hemisphere also involved in language comprehension & semantics
- R hemisphere special role for prosody & for language in context (drawing inferences, metaphors)
What are the specificities of the dorsal pathway for language ?
- Transform sounds information into motor representation
- Syntax : frequency associations sounds
What are the specificities of the ventral pathway for language ?
- Convey phonological information into semantic information
- Extract meaning from grammar
What’s the difference between posterior & anterior semantic network for language ?
- Posterior : perceptual knowledge
- Anterior : action knowledge
What other subcortical structures are involved in speech & language ?
- Thalamus & caudate nucleus
- Cerebellum
- Visual cortical areas
Which network is the more involved in language processing ?
Network of perisylvian areas
What are the different types of language disorders ?
- Speech : aphasia
- Writing : agraphia
- Reading : alexia
What are the symptoms of disorders of comprehension of language ?
- Poor auditory comprehension
- Poor visual comprehension
What are the symptoms of disorders of production of language ?
- Poor articulation
- Word)finding deficit (anomia)
- Unintended words or phrases (paraphrasia)
- Loss of grammar & syntax
- Low verbal fluency
- Inability to write (agraphia)
- Loss of tone in voice (aprosodia)
What are the different types of aphasia ?
- Fluent aphasias
- Non-fluent aphasias
- Pure aphasias
What are the symptoms of fluent aphasias ?
- Fluent speech
- Difficulty verbal comprehension or repeating words/sentenced
What are the symptoms of sensory aphasia (Wernicke’s aphasia) ?
- Fluent speech without articulation problems
- Incoherent speech
- Poor understanding of spoken language
- Elementary problems with phonemes (speech sounds) & graphemes (letters)
- Word salad
- Writing problems
What’s conduction aphasia ?
- Good speech understanding & production
- Unable to repeat words
What’s anomic/amnesic aphasia ?
- Good speech understanding & production
- Serious word finding problems with nouns (temporal) or verbs (frontal)
What are the symptoms of non-fluent aphasias ?
- Relatively good speech understanding
- Difficult, simplified or absent speech production
What are the symptoms of expressive aphasia (Broca’s aphasia) ?
- Good speech understanding
- Slow, poor & grammatically deficient speech production
What’s transcortical motor aphasia ?
- Repetition is good
- Difficult spontaneous production of speech
