Chapter 16 - Lateralization, Language, and the Split Brain

Question 1

Cerebral commissures

Answer 1

Tracts that connect the left and right cerebral hemispheres

Question 2

Lateralization of function

Answer 2

The unequal representation of various psychological functions in the two hemispheres of the brain

Question 3

Split-brain patients

Answer 3

Commissurotomized patients

Question 4

Commissurotomy

Answer 4

Surgical severing of the cerebral commissures

Question 5

Aphasia

Answer 5

A brain damage–produced deficit in the ability to produce or comprehend language

Question 6

Frontal operculum

Answer 6

The area of prefrontal cortex that in the left hemisphere is the location of Broca’s area

Question 7

Planum temporale

Answer 7

An area of temporal lobe cortex that lies in the posterior region of the lateral fissure and, in the left hemisphere, roughly corresponds to Wernicke’s area

Question 8

Heschl’s gyrus

Answer 8

The temporal lobe gyrus that is the location of primary auditory cortex

Question 9

Motor theory of speech perception

Answer 9

The theory that the perception of speech involves activation of the same areas of the brain that are involved in the production of speech

Question 10

Wernicke’s area

Answer 10

The area of the left temporal cortex hypothesized by Wernicke to be the center of language comprehension

Question 11

Broca’s area

Answer 11

The area of the inferior prefrontal cortex of the left hemisphere hypothesized by Broca to be the center of speech production

Question 12

Apraxia

Answer 12

A disorder in which patients have great difficulty performing movements when asked to do so out of context but can readily perform them spontaneously in natural situations

Question 13

Dominant hemisphere

Answer 13

A term used in the past to refer to the left hemisphere, based on the incorrect assumption that the left hemisphere is dominant in all complex behavioral and cognitive
activities

Question 14

Minor hemisphere

Answer 14

A term used in the past to refer to the right hemisphere, based on the incorrect assumption that the left hemisphere is dominant

Question 15

Sodium amytal test

Answer 15

A test involving the anesthetization of first one cerebral hemisphere and then the other to determine which hemisphere plays the dominant role in language

Question 16

Dichotic listening test

Answer 16

A test of language lateralization in which two different sequences of three spoken digits are presented simultaneously, one to each ear, and the subject is asked to report all of the digits heard

Question 17

Dextrals

Answer 17

Right-handers

Question 18

Sinestrals

Answer 18

Left-handers

Question 19

Expressive

Answer 19

Pertaining to the generation of language; that is, pertaining to writing or talking

Question 20

Broca’s aphasia

Answer 20

A hypothetical disorder of speech production with no associated deficits in language comprehension

Question 21

Receptive

Answer 21

Pertaining to the comprehension of language and speech

Question 22

Wernicke’s aphasia

Answer 22

A hypothetical disorder of language comprehension with no associated deficits in speech production

Question 23

Arcuate fasciculus

Answer 23

The major neural pathway between Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area

Question 24

Conduction aphasia

Answer 24

A hypothetical aphasia that is thought to result from damage to the arcuate fasciculus—the pathway between Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas

Question 25

Angular gyrus

Answer 25

The gyrus of the posterior cortex at the boundary between the temporal and parietal lobes. According to the Wernicke-Geschwind model the left hemisphere angular gyrus plays a role in reading.

Question 26

Alexia

Answer 26

A specific inability to read; one that does not result from general visual, motor, or intellectual deficits.

Question 27

Agraphia

Answer 27

A specific inability to write; one that does not result from general visual, motor, or intellectual deficits

Question 28

Wernicke-Geschwind model

Answer 28

An influential model of cortical language localization in the left hemisphere

Question 29

Global aphasia

Answer 29

Severe disruption of all language-related abilities

Question 30

Phoneme

Answer 30

The smallest unit of sound that distinguishes among various words in a language

Question 31

Corpus callosum

Answer 31

The largest cerebral commissure

Question 32

Scotoma

Answer 32

An area of blindness produced by damage to, or disruption of, an area of the visual system

Question 33

Cross-cuing

Answer 33

Communication between hemispheres that have been separated by commissurotomy via an external route

Question 34

Helping-hand phenomenon

Answer 34

The redirection of one hand of a splitbrain patient by the other hand

Question 35

Visual completion

Answer 35

The completion or filling in of a scotoma by the brain

Question 36

Chimeric figures test

Answer 36

A test of visual completion in split-brain subjects that uses pictures composed of the left and right halves of two different faces

Question 37

Phonological analysis

Answer 37

Analysis of the sound of language

Question 38

Grammatical analysis

Answer 38

Analysis of the structure of language

Question 39

Semantic analysis

Answer 39

Analysis of the meaning of language

Question 40

Dyslexia

Answer 40

A reading disorder that does not result from general visual, motor, or intellectual deficits

Question 41

Developmental dyslexias

Answer 41

Dyslexias that become apparent when a child is learning to read

Question 42

Acquired dyslexias

Answer 42

Dyslexias caused by brain damage in people previously capable of reading

Question 43

Lexical procedure

Answer 43

A procedure for reading aloud that is based on specific stored information acquired about written words

Question 44

Phonetic procedure

Answer 44

A procedure for reading aloud that involves the recognition of letters and the application of a language’s rules of pronunciation

Question 45

Surface dyslexia

Answer 45

A reading disorder in which the lexical procedure is disrupted while the phonetic procedure is not

Question 46

Deep dyslexia

Answer 46

A reading disorder in which the phonetic procedure is disrupted while the lexical procedure is not

Question 47

Hemispherectomy

Answer 47

The removal of one cerebral hemisphere