Neurolinguistics Flashcards
What is neurolinguistics?
Area of linguistics that studies the biological and cognitive bases of language
What are the main parts of the brain?
cerebrum (thoughts and actions)
cerebellum (coordination, balance, accuracy of motor functions)
brainstem (motor and sensory actions to face and neck)
What are the longitudinal fissures of the cerebral hemispheres?
right and left have different brain functions, distributed across both
What is contralateral control?
one hemisphere of the brain controls the opposite side of the body
What are dichotic listening studies?
knowledge of specialization of the hemispheres
hear different auditory stimuli at same time
left: specialized for language sounds (left handed and ambidextrous opposite)
What is the frontal lobe?
planning, prediction, speech, discrete movements
What does damage to the frontal lobe do? (4)
changes in personality and behaviours (irritable, irrational)
impaired executive functioning (planning, focusing)
difficult with movement
speech and language issues (Brocca’s aphasia - diff speaking but not comprehension)
What is the parietal lobe?
reading, writing, interpreting whats written
What is occipital lobe?
visual processing
What does damage to the occipital lobe do?
visual field defects: hemianopia (1/2 field blocked), quadrantanopia (1/4 blocked)
cortical blindness (intact but can’t process)
visual agnosia: prosopagnosia (can’t recognize faces), apperceptive agnosia (can’t recognize objects and shapes)
alexia (inability to read)
What is the temporal lobe?
auditions, memory processing, sensory integration, language comprehension, speech production
What does damage to the temporal lobe do? (4)
loss of semantic memory (can’t comprehend language and concepts)
aphasia: Wernicke’s aphasia (comprehend but speech is incoherent)
auditory hallucinations
anomia (difficult finding right words for speech and writting
