Week 3- langauge and the brain Flashcards
Define localisation
The idea that certain functions (e.g. language, memory, etc.) have certain locations or areas within the brain.
Define lateralisation
The lateralization of brain function is the tendency for some neural functions or cognitive processes to be more dominant in one hemisphere than the other.
What is the critical period hypothesis?
The critical period hypothesis (CPH) states that the first few years of life constitute the time during which language develops readily and after which (sometime between age 5 and puberty) language acquisition is much more difficult and ultimately less successful.
What does the cerebrum do?
The cerebrum or cortex is the largest part of the human brain, associated with higher brain function such as thought and action. The cerebral cortex is divided into four sections, called “lobes”: the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe.
What does the cerebellum do?
The cerebellum, or “little brain”, is similar to the cerebrum in that it has two hemispheres and has a highly folded surface or cortex. This structure is associated with regulation and coordination of movement, posture, and balance.
What does the corpus callosum do?
The corpus callosum is a thick band of nerve fibres that divides the cerebrum into left and right hemispheres. It connects the left and right sides of the brain allowing for communication between both hemispheres. The corpus callosum transfers motor, sensory, and cognitive information between the brain hemispheres.
What does the left side of the brain control?
mathematical logical grammar punctuation decoding short term controls right side
What does the right side of the brain control?
creative pictures symbols long term spontaneous controls left side
What do the four lobes in the brain do?
Frontal (production)
Temporal (receiving)
Occipital (vision)
Parietal (integrates sensory info)
What is contralateral control?
Right half of the brain control left half of the body, while left half of the brain control right half of the body.
what is Boroca’s aphasia?
takes speakers a lot of effort to talk, there are multiple pauses and almost no syntax. They use primarily concrete nouns. They understand what people are saying to them and can formulate responses in their head but cannot put things into words.
what is Wernicke’s aphasia?
effortless speech, fluent and rapid. Nonsense syllables and can’t follow what is being said. Utterances lack meaning.
what is the wada test?
where an injection into a major artery temporarily suspends the operation associated with the left or the right hemisphere . In most patients, language is suppressed when the left hemisphere is disabled.
what is dichotic listening?
where different messages are fed simultaneously into two ears. the message that dominates is usually found to be the one in the right ear. ie; the one that connects contralaterally with the left hemisphere.
what is a commissurotomy?
an operation in which the corpus callosum was severed in half in severe cases of epilepsy, disconnecting the two hemispheres. patients who underwent this surgery could name objects in their right field of vision but not in the left.
