Speech and Language

Question 1

What is speech? What are the four processes of it?

Answer 1

verbal language communication
respiration
phonation- production of sound by muscle contraction
articulation- formation of recognizable speech by mouth
resonation- sound quality shaped by throat

Question 2

What are the sounds of spoken lanugage?

Answer 2

phonemes

Question 3

What is language? How can it be conveyed (3 ways)?

Answer 3

rule based system of symbolic communication

reading/writing, speech/hearing, manual/visual

Question 4

What are the five dimensions of language?

Answer 4

phonology-rules for how sounds can be sequenced
morphology- rules for meaning of sounds (un, pro, con)
syntax- rules for grammar
semantics- rules for meaning of words
pragmatics-rules for communication (prosody, gesture, tone) and classification of word type (noun, verb, etc)

Question 5

What is communication?

Answer 5

even broader than language, process to exchange info linguistically and nonlinguistically

Question 6

What percentage of info transmitted in a conversation is done so nonverbally?

Answer 6

> 90%

Question 7

What is prosody?

Answer 7

melody of language, pitch changes conveying emotion and linguistic info, rhythm/cadence

Question 8

Around what fissure are the areas specialized for language?

Answer 8

silvian fissure (lateral), in the parasilvian areas

Question 9

What area is for language output and production of language?

Answer 9

brocas

Question 10

What area is for language input and processing of words?

Answer 10

wernickes

Question 11

What is the “connectionist model” for language? what’s the other name for it?

Answer 11

Geschund-Wernicke model
believes each aspect of language is managed by a distinct module in the brain linked by serial connections

Question 12

What brodmann’s areas make up Brocas area? What do each contribute to?

Answer 12

44- phonological processing and language production (near face representations in motor area)
45- semantics of language, verbal memory for selecting semantic elements

Question 13

What brodmann’s area makes up Wernickes?

Answer 13

22

Question 14

What is the angular gyrus involved in for language?

Answer 14

semantic processing

Question 15

What is the supramarginal gyrus involved in for language?

Answer 15

phonological and articulatory processing of words

Question 16

What area lights up in PET scans for passively viewing words? listening to words? speaking words? generating word associations?

Answer 16

viewing- occipital
listening- auditory cortex
speaking- motor cortex, brocas
word associations- broca and wernickes

Question 17

What subcortical areas are involved in speech?

Answer 17

PAG through limbic system (ACC), involved in emotional context of speech and vocalizations such as separation calls

Question 18

What are speech impairments?

Answer 18

articulation disorders, fluency disorders (stuttering and cluttering), voice disorders (husky, strained, hypernasal, hyponasal)

Question 19

What is global aphasia?

Answer 19

expressive and receptive aphasia, total loss of ability to understand, speak, write or read language

Question 20

What is conduction aphasia?

Answer 20

language comprehension and spontaneous oral expression intact, trouble repeating words and phrases
damage to arcuate fasciculus

Question 21

What is anomic aphasia?

Answer 21

oral expression and syntax intact, diffiiculty in finding certain words
damage to angular gyrus or right above it
compensate through circumlocution

Question 22

What is anarthria?

Answer 22

malfunction in motor aspects of speech, such as can’t articulate

Question 23

What is alexia?

Answer 23

damage to inferior left occipital/temporal lobes, can’t read

Question 24

How is alexia different from dyslexia?

Answer 24

alexis is acquired as an adult

dyslexia is developmental problem with difficulty learning to read and write

Question 25

What is the etiology of communication disorders (7)?

Answer 25

trauma, vascular disturbance, tumor/infection, environment (low SES), neurodegeneration (parkinsons, alcohol), genetic (VCFS), idiopathic (autism)

Question 26

What does right hemisphere damage cause for language?

Answer 26

deficits involving interpretation of context, nonverbal domain of language

Question 27

What is indirect context disorder?

Answer 27

difficulty interacting with environment, hemineglect and anosognosia- unawareness of such deficits

Question 28

What is direct context disorder?

Answer 28

affects communication and cognition directly, also called pragmatic communication disorder since pragmatics is the study of how people use language in context -disorders of prosody, discourse organization, and comprehension of nonliteral language

Question 29

How does alcohol affect language?

Answer 29

brocas area volume decreased with years of drinking, less cortical thickness

Question 30

How does environment affect language?

Answer 30

lower SES, less language development, less Brocas area activation link is through parental vocab, less exposure to books, and possibly nutritional deficit

Question 31

Can the brain change in response to enrichment for lower SES kids?

Answer 31

yes, increase in fractional anistropy (indiciating strengthening of connections of axons) after headstart program, reading, etc

Question 32

Why does VCFS cause communication problems?

Answer 32

due to incomplete development of articulatory structures, could be from autism spectrum disorder too (1/3 of VCFS has it)

Question 33

What kind of communication disorder is associated with autism?

Answer 33

right hemisphere communication disorder, can't appreciate nonverbal or nonliteral cues

Question 34

In what brain regions are changes seen in autism?

Answer 34

cerebellum and amygdala