week 9: language Flashcards
elements of language
phonemes morphemes semantics syntax grammar
what are phonemes?
the smallest unit of sound that makes a difference to the meaning (c to car)
what are morphemes?
the smallest unit of language that has meaning (ing,un,able)
what is semantics?
meanings of words or sentences
what is aphasia?
inability/impaired ability to produce or understand speech and writing
signs of aphasia
paraphasia
neologism
nonfluent speech
what is paraphasia?
the substitution for a word by sound, an incorrect word or an unintended word eg. dat instead of hat
what is neologism?
an entirely made-up word
what is nonfluent speech?
talking with considerable effort
what other impairments do aphasia patients experience?
agraphia/dysgraphia
alexia/dyselxia
what is agraphia/dysgraphia?
acquired or developed the inability to write/impairment of writing
what is alexia/dyslexia?
acquired/developed inability to read/impairment of reading
brain regions involved in language
Temporal lobe
- Broca’s area
- Wernicke’s area
- primary auditory area
primary motor cortex
patient tan and paul broca
Paul Broca patient Leborgne (Tan) - right hemiparesis (right side paralysed) - loss of speech - comprehension ok - damage to Broca's area
Karl wernickes patients
2 patients with deficits in comprehension and fluent, incomprehensible speech
damage was found in posterior to primary auditory cortex (wernickes area)
explain lichtheims house
A represents auditory area (wernickes)
M represents motor/spoken word (Broca)
B represents concept area
red lines represent an area where something could go wrong
How did the Wernickes-Geschwind model of language develop?
combined concept of Wernickes and Lichtheims findings
how do we hear words?
The auditory cortex transmits information about the sounds to Wernickes area where the sounds are analysed and decoded
How do we speak?
for a word to be spoken, Wernickes area must transmit this information to Brocas area where a speech plan is activated. Brocas area sends the plan to the motor cortex which controls the muscles needed to speak
what is the arcuate fasciculus?
the bundle of nerve fibres formed by axons transmitting info from wernickes to brocas area
How do we say the name of a seen object or word?
Visual information is transferred to the angular gyrus which arouses the auditory pattern in wernickes area. the auditory form is then transmitted via the arcuated fasciculus to brocas area. then the model for the spoken form is activated and transmitted to the motor cortex and the word is spoken
types of aphasias
brocas
wernickes
conduction
how does one get brocas aphasia?
damaged to the brocas area which is the posterior part of the inferior frontal convolution in the left hemisphere (left frontal lesion)
what area is brocas area anterior to?
the motor cortex which controls the muscles involved in speech (tongue, jaw, throat)
damage to the brocas area mean?
damage to this region destroys memory traces of the movements required to produce speech
Broca’s aphasia symptoms
- slow/high effort deliberate speech
- telegraphic speech
- difficulty finding/saying correct phoneme/words
- anomia
- phonemic paraphasia
- reduced verbal fluency
- repetition
- hemiplegia (paralysis of side of body)
- insight intact
summary of brocas aphasia symptoms
categorised by difficulties speaking but being consciously aware of the conversations and their challenges
phonemic paraphasias
unable to find appropriate phoneme so swaps it for a similar one
eg. pill for spill
telegraphic speech
simple grammatical structure
focus on nouns singularly
eg. eat dinner
anomia
inability to come up with desired word
how does one get wernickes aphasia?
results from damage to the vicinity of Wernicke’s area in the left superior temporal cortex posterior to the primary auditory cortex
damage to the wernickes area mean?
unable to comprehend
wernickes area is involved in memory for sounds of speech and mediates the linking of the auditory representations of words with their meaning
wernickes aphasia symptoms
- inability to comprehend speech
fluent speech with no distress with the correct speed and pattern - jargon makes their speech difficult to interpret
- semantic paraphasias
- neologism
- talks around topic
-inability to repeat words/phrases - no paralysis
- poor insight into language difficulties
- understands facial expressions
semantic paraphasias
errors that have a semantic similarity to the desired word
eg, son for daughter
conduction aphasia
- normal speech comprehension and production
- difficulties in repetition of non-meaningful words and word sequences
- cannot say words they don’t have a mental image for eg. can say fruit but cannot make up a word
