Week 3 - Language and the Brain

Question 1

Name: THE FOUR LOBES OF THE BRAIN

Answer 1

Frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal

Question 2

Name: THE LANGUAGE AREAS OF THE BRAIN

Answer 2

Wernicke’s area, Broca’s Area

Question 3

Define: APHASIA

Answer 3

A communication disorder that involves the loss of some or all language abilities following damage to the left hemisphere

Question 4

Define: BROCA’S AREA

Answer 4

An area of the left frontal lobe in the brain that is responsible for language production

Question 5

Define: WERNICKE’S AREA

Answer 5

An area of the left temporal lobe in the brain that is responsible for language comprehension

Question 6

Define: BROCA’S APHASIA

Answer 6

Damage to the Broca’s area that results in the limiting or loss of language production

Question 7

Define: WENICKE’S APHASIA

Answer 7

Damage to the Wernicke’s area that results in the limiting or loss of language comprehension

Question 8

What is the Wada test?

Answer 8

A test used to investigate brain localisation in which a substance is injected into different parts of the brain to see what abilities are affected. When the LH is injected language is ‘disabled’

Question 9

What is Dichotic Listening?

Answer 9

Different sounds/words are played simultaneously in each ear and the message that dominates is near always the one that is played in the right ear, as the right ear is connected to the left hemisphere

Question 10

Define: BRAIN LOCALISATION

Answer 10

Different areas of the brain have different functions

Question 11

Define: BRAIN LATERALISATION

Answer 11

The tendency for some neural functions or cognitive processes to be specialised to one hemisphere or the other

Question 12

What is another name for the brain?

Answer 12

The Cerebrum

Question 13

Define: THE CORPUS CALLOSUM

Answer 13

The thick band of nerve fibres that divides the cerebrum into two hemispheres and connects them, allowing them to communicate

Question 14

Define: CONTRALATERAL RELATIONSHIP (re. the brain)

Answer 14

The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and vice-versa

Question 15

Differences between the human and animal brains

Answer 15

• The cortex is much more extensive and more controlling over the vocal tract in humans, thus there is a larger area specialised for language
• The pre-frontal area is 6x bigger in humans, which allows production of language
• In humans more of the motor area controls vocal vocal area

Question 16

How do studies of communication disorders help our understanding of language?

Answer 16

Errors made by sufferers of communication disorders help us see how speech and language are put together

Question 17

What is a commissurotomy?

Answer 17

An operation that involves splitting the two brain hemispheres by severing the corpus callosum

Question 18

What have commissurotomy’s told us about language?

Answer 18

Patients can name objects in their RVF, but not in their left, which could be because they can only communicate using the LH

Question 19

Typical symptoms of Wernicke’s Aphasia

Answer 19

• Speech fluency
• Nonsense syllables - speech has no meaning
• No awareness that language has meaning

Question 20

Typical symptoms of Broca’s Aphasia

Answer 20

• Know what they want to say
• Incomplete grammar
• Faulty production of language
• Greater struggle with longer words

Question 21

What are limitations of using Aphasic patients as a means of studying language?

Answer 21

• Validity is questionable - are you actually researching normal processing?
• You can’t assume that effects would be the same for a neurotypical person
• You have to consider individual differences - could effects simply be unique to that individual?

Question 22

Define: THE CEREBELLUM

Answer 22

The part of the brain at the back of the skull that is responsible for receiving senses and controls movement