Week 2: Brain Structure & Linguistic Function Flashcards
Subdivision of Cortical Connection Systems
Long-range (A)
Short-distance (B)
In pyramidal cells, half of the synapses seem to be involved with each
Suggests different functions in cognition
Sylvian Fissure
Most brain areas linked to language are nearby (‘perisylvian areas’)
A system
Long-range
Long axons, Apical dendrites
B system
Short-distance
Local axon branches, Basal dendrites
Location of Broca’s area
Inferior frontal lobe
Brodmann’s number 44, 45
Location of Wernicke’s area
Spans the temporal, parietal, occipital lobes
Brodmann’s number 22
Less common aphasias
Conduction aphasia: problem with repetition
Anomic aphasia: problem with naming
Agrammatic aphasia: problem with grammar/function words
Hebbian learning
Cells that fire together, wire together
Mirror neurons
May be linked to repetition, imitation
Link between Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas
fasciculus arcuatus
In humans vs other primates:
- ‘Jumping links’ in dorsal section
- Shorter ‘path length’
- Reverberative feedback -> action-perception circuits (APC) for speech sounds
Brain constrained modelling
Neural networks that are roughly consistent with the brain
Verbal working memory
Jumping links + short sensorimotor paths + high connectivity -> APC reverberation
Connections allow for action-perception-representations that serve as memory carriers (cell assemblies) of large vocabularies
