Week 3: Language & Numeracy Flashcards
Ability to learn a second language rapidly declines at
puberty
True or false:
Consonants convey more information than vowels.
False
Which area of the cortex is activated by any type of sound?
Primary auditory cortex
Which area of the cortex is specific for speech?
The anterior superior temporal gyrus responds to words, but not word-like sounds
Phase 1 of language processing
initially, auditory circuits process sound and phonological circuits identify it as speech, identifying phonemes and word boundaries
Phase 2 of language processing
identify phrase and sentence structure
Phase 3 of language processing
calculate syntactic and semantic relationships
Phase 4 of language processing
Resolve ambiguities using context and world knowledge
Posterior superior temporal gyrus to premotor cortex and BA44 via the
arcuate fasciculus and superior longitudinal fasciculus
Anterior superior temporal gyrus to BA45 via
extreme fibre capsule system and uncinate fasciculus
Prosodic processing is processed predominantly by which hemisphere?
Right
True or false:
Emotional prosody is processed predominantly in the right hemisphere but also in the left
False, it is processed exclusively in the right
The sense that a number is larger than another is called
cardinality
The sense that a number has progressive order
ordinal sense
Number problems and Gerstmann’s syndrome result from lesions in which area
Left inferior parietal cortex
Rate of acquisition of words
Earliest words acquired at about 1-3 words a week
After the first 40 or so words, acquisition increases to 8-10 words per week
Preschool and primary school children typically learn 10 words a day
Average adult vocabulary 40,000-70,000 words
Phase 1 - anatomical and functional relationships
- Primary auditory cortex activated by any sound
- Planum temporale processes speech and non-speech sounds - information resembling speech is transmitted anteriorly to the anterior superior temporal gyrus. Information not pertaining to speech is transmitted posteriorly to the posterior superior temporal gyrus.
- Anterior superior temporal gyrus - analysis of parts of speech - responds to words but not word-like sounds.
Methods of testing syntax and semantics using whole-brain imaging
- Contrast sentences with non-sentences (e.g. word lists)
- Use sentences with deliberate syntactic or semantic errors
- Use different levels of syntactic or semantic complexity
Regions involved in syntax and semantics
Superior temporal gyrus (BA 22/42 - Wernicke’s area)
Middle temporal gyrus
Superior temporal sulcus
Inferior gyrus (BA 44/45)
The bundle of neurons that connect Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area is called
Arcuate fasciculus - forms part of the superior longitudinal fasciculus. Connects Broca’s area in inferior frontal gyrus and Wernicke’s area in pSTG.
Which hemisphere predominantly processes prosody?
Right
Children who have had left hemisphere hemispherectomy between 1-10 years (mean 8 years) all had age-normal spoken language and comprehension skills 10 years later. How did they develop a language-capable right hemisphere?
Two hypotheses:
- Both sides start off with a bilateral language network that contracts to LHS with age
- Areas of right cortex that are never involved in non-prosodic language become active when left language network is lost
Topographical representation of numerosity is located in which area of the brain?
Superior parietal cortex
Cardinality
Ability to realise that a number is larger or smaller than another e.g. 3 is somehow bigger than 2
Ordinal sense
Ability to understand an order to numbers e.g. 3 comes after 2. May be exclusive to humans.
Lesions in left inferior parietal cortex lead to
GERSTMANN’S SYNDROME:
Acalculia, writing problems, inability to distinguish left from right, inability to distinguish fingers
