Lecture 19 - Human Communication

Question 1

Verbal behaviors include

Answer 1

Talking
Understanding speech
Reading
Writing

Verbal communication allows for social interaction and underlies the accumulation of knowledge from one generation to the next.

Question 2

Broca’s area

Answer 2

speech production

Question 3

Wernicke’s area

Answer 3

Speech comprehension

Question 4

The Neurology of Language

Our understanding of the brain regions that are involved in language comes from studies of:

Answer 4

Stroke victims.

Persons with seizure disorders that required brain surgery.

Normal persons using brain imaging (PET or fMRI).

Animals!

Question 5

Verbal behaviors are lateralized

Answer 5

The left hemisphere is dominant for language in most people.
- the Wada test can be used to determine hemispheric dominance for language.

Sodium amytal injected into right or left carotid artery, putting that half of the brain asleep. Then test for language.

The right hemisphere plays a role in the expression and recognition of emotion in the tone of voice as well as in prosody (rhythm and stress of speech).

Question 6

Speech Disorders

Aphasia

Answer 6

Disturbance in speech

• production
• comprehension

Question 7

Speech Disorders

Aphasia

Aphasia is not the result of

Answer 7

lack of motivation

sensory/motor deficit (e.g. paralysis)

Question 8

Aphasia can result from damage to the

Answer 8

left hemisphere

Question 9

Speech Disorders

Aphasia

What if you are bilingual?

Answer 9

might impact 1 language & not as much of the other one after stroke for ex

Question 10

Broca’s Aphasia

Answer 10

Broca’s aphasia results from damage to the inferior left frontal lobe.

Question 11

Characteristics of Broca’s aphasia include:

Answer 11

Slow, laborious speech.

• Spoken words have meaning (are intelligible).
• Person can comprehend the speech of others.

Difficulty with function words (a, the, in, about).

Question 12

Three major speech difficulties are evident in Broca’s aphasia:

Answer 12

Agrammatism: difficulty in using grammar rules (e.g. -ed).

Anomia: difficulty in finding appropriate words.

Difficulty with word articulation.

Question 13

Agrammatism:

Answer 13

difficulty in using grammar rules (e.g. -ed).

Question 14

Anomia:

Answer 14

difficulty in finding appropriate words.

Question 15

Wernicke’s Aphasia

Answer 15

Speech comprehension involves the auditory system as well as neural circuits in the superior left temporal gyrus (Wernicke’s area).

• Word recognition is disrupted by damage to Wernicke’s area.

Question 16

The primary symptoms of Wenicke’s aphasia are:

Answer 16

Poor speech comprehension.

• Evident in non-verbal tasks (“point to object…”).
• Cannot repeat statements made by others.

Fluent, but meaningless speech.
- Patients can use content words, appropriate grammar.

Patients are unaware of comprehension deficit.

Question 17

Wernicke’s aphasia consists of distinct deficits:

Answer 17

Recognition of spoken words
- PURE WORD DEAFNESS: disruption of inputs to Wernicke’s area results in an inability to understand speech.

Comprehension of word meaning

• TRANSCORTICAL SENSORY APHASIA: damage to posterior language area.
• • Person can repeat statements, but does not comprehend the statements.
• • Suggests distinction between speech recognition/comprehension.

Conversion of thoughts into words.

Question 18

Conduction Aphasia

Answer 18

Information about word sounds is carried via the ARCUATE FASICULUS.
- connects Wernicke’s area with Broca’s area.

Question 19

Damage to the fasciculus produces conduction aphasia:

Answer 19

• fluent, meaningful speech.
• good word comprehension.
• difficulty in repeating words.

Question 20

Prosody

Answer 20

Prosody refers to variations in rhythm, pitch, and cadence that communicate information.

• used to distinguish questions from statements.
• prosody can communicate cues as to our emotional states.

Question 21

Prosody is not disrupted in

Answer 21

Wernicke’s aphasia (speech is fluent but meaningless).

Question 22

Prosody is severely disrupted by:

Answer 22

damage to the right hemisphere (musical aspect of prosody…).

damage to Broca’s area.

Question 23

Reading Disorders

Answer 23

Pure alexia refers to the inability to read (or “alexia without agraphia”).

• patient can write, but can not read what she wrote.
• pure word blindness

Question 24

Pure alexia is produced by:

Answer 24

damage to the left visual cortex and the posterior end of the corpus callosum.

Question 25

In pure alexia, word recognition is carried out by

Answer 25

right extrastriate cortex and cannot reach the speech regions of the left hemisphere.

Question 26

The flow of information during reading is from:

Answer 26

retina –> striate cortex –> extrastriate –> corpus callosum –> contralateral extrastriate –> Wernicke’s area –> Broca’s area

Question 27

Reading involves two processes:

Answer 27

Recognition of the entire word (whole-word approach).

Sounding out the word, letter by letter (phonetic approach).

Question 28

Dyslexia refers to

Answer 28

“faulty reading”.

Question 29

Acquired dyslexias are produced by

Answer 29

brain damage in persons who were able to read.

Question 30

Surface dyslexia:

Answer 30

deficit in whole-word reading (can sound words out).

Question 31

Phonological dyslexia:

Answer 31

person can read using the whole-word method, but cannot sound out words.

Question 32

Spelling dyslexia:

Answer 32

deficit in both whole-word and phonetic reading.

Question 33

Direct dyslexia:

Answer 33

people are able to read aloud, but do not understand what they are reading.

Question 34

Developmental Dyslexias

Answer 34

• Involve a reading difficulty in a person of otherwise normal intelligence.
• Have a genetic component that may be related to chromosomes 6 and 15.
• Have NOT been linked by imaging studies to abnormalities of specific brain regions.
• May involve abnormalities of the magnocellular system within the lateral geniculate nucleus.
• • Magnocellular system provides information about movement, depth and differences in contrast.
• • Dyslexia may involve a perceptual disorder in which letters appear to move, are blurry, or merge together.

Question 35

Individuals with phonological dyslexia have difficulty
A) in silent reading.
B) in using whole word reading, but can sound out familiar words.
C) reading unfamiliar words.
D) reading for comprehension.
E) reading aloud.

Answer 35

C) reading unfamiliar words.

Question 36

People with Broca’s aphasia have difficulty
A) saying content words.
B) recognizing the emotional content of speech.
C) spelling simple words.
D) understanding speech.
E) producing speech.

Answer 36

E) producing speech.

Question 37

Human verbal behaviours
A) have behavioural effects on others.
B) are a form of social behaviour.
C) allows us to accumulate knowledge from generation to generation.
D) allow us to share information with others.
E) All of the above are correct.

Answer 37

E) All of the above are correct.

Question 38

A primary characteristic of Wernicke’s aphasia is
A) effortless production of meaningless speech.
B) labored and nonfluent speech.
C) speech that lacks rhythm and tone.
D) mutism.
E) fumbling for the right word.

Answer 38

A) effortless production of meaningless speech.

Question 39

The meanings of words are most likely stored in
A) Wernicke’s area.
B) lateral temporal cortex.
C) primary auditory cortex.
D) Broca’s area.
E) association cortex.

Answer 39

E) association cortex.