Language

Question 1

Define language

Answer 1

Is a system for representing and communicating information that uses words combined according to grammatical rules

Question 2

Define speech

Answer 2

An audible form of communication built on the sounds humans produce.

Question 3

What are phonemes?

Answer 3

Fundamental sounds that a language uses to communicate

Question 4

What is language acquisition?

Answer 4

Learning a language

Question 5

How do children learn the the combination of sounds?

Answer 5

Possible locations of word boundary
Syllable emphasis

Question 6

How does listening to speech affect the brain?

Answer 6

Activates extensive areas in the temporal lobe with activation strongly biased toward the left hemisphere.

Question 7

Define verbal dyspraxia

Answer 7

An inability to produce the coordinated muscular movements needed for speech

Question 8

What genes underlie verbal dyspraxia?

Answer 8

FOXP2 - a transcription factor responsible for turning other genes off and on,

Question 9

What is specific language impairment?

Answer 9

Consists of a developmental delay in the mastery of language that may persist into adulthood and is not associated with hearing difficulty or more general developmental delays

Question 10

What genes are involved with SLI?

Answer 10

FOXP2
CNTNAP2 - neurexin protein
KIAA0319

Question 11

What role does CNTNAP2 play in the brain?

Answer 11

Proteins on the presynaptic side of synapses that serve to hold the presynaptic and postsynaptic events together.

Brain development by properly locating potassium channels in the developing neurons.

Question 12

What is the role of KIAA0319 in the brain?

Answer 12

Neuronal migration during neocortical development

Question 13

Define dyslexia

Answer 13

Difficulty learning to read despite normal intelligence and training,

Question 14

What gene is involved with dyslexia?

Answer 14

KIAA0319

Question 15

Define aphasia

Answer 15

Partial or complete loss of language abilities following brain damage, often without the loss of cognitive faculties or the ability to move muscles used in speech

Question 16

Define Broca’s aphasia

Answer 16

A language disturbance in which a person has difficulty speaking or repeating words but can understand language

Question 17

Where is Broca’s area located?

Answer 17

Left frontal lobe

Question 18

Where is wernickes area located?

Answer 18

Superior surface of the temporal lobe between the auditory cortex and the angular GYRUS

Question 19

Define anomia

Answer 19

Inability to find words

Question 20

Define agrammatism

Answer 20

Inability to construct grammatically correct sentences

Question 21

Define paraphasic errors

Answer 21

Substitute incorrect sounds or words

Question 22

What are the characteristics of Broca’s aphasia?

Answer 22

Anomia
Content words (nouns, verbs and adjectives carrying content specific to the sentence) is used but function words (articles, pronouns and conjunctions) are left out
Agrammatism
Paraphasic errors

Question 23

Define wernickes aphasia

Answer 23

Speech is fluent but comprehension is poor

Question 24

Define Wernicke-Geschwind model

Answer 24

A model for language processing involving interactions of Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area with sensory and motor areas

Question 25

What brain areas are involved in Wernickes-Geschwind model

Answer 25

Broca’s Wernickes Arcuate fasciculus - a bundle of axons connecting the two cortical areas Angular GYRUS

Question 26

Describe the pathway involved in repeating a spoken word

Answer 26

Sound - auditory cortex - wernickes area (meaning found) - arcuate fasciculus - Broca’s area (coding for muscle movement) - motor cortex

Question 27

Describe the pathway involved in repeating aloud a written word

Answer 27

Reading - primary visual cortex - angular GYRUS - wernickes - Broca’s - motor cortex

Question 28

What are several errors with the Wernicke-Geschwind model?

Answer 28

1. Visual information can be processed in other areas which bypass the angular GYRUS 2. Aphasia also due to damage to thalamus which is not shown in model 3. Language improvements after stroke. Other brain regions can compensate for lost areas

Question 29

Define conduction aphasia

Answer 29

A type of aphasia associated with damage to the arcuate fasciculus, characterised by good comprehension and speech but difficulty repeating words

Question 30

What happens to a bilingual person suffers from a stroke

Answer 30

Not predictable but the language learned more fluently and earlier in life tends to be relatively more preserved Similar effect to both languages if learned at the same time

Question 31

Define split brain studies

Answer 31

Hemispheres are surgically disconnected

Question 32

Describe the affects of left hemisphere language dominance in split brains

Answer 32

Repeat words, describe numbers, words and pictures casually present on the right visual field. Describe the objects being manipulated in only the right hand. Unable to describe anything to the left of the visual fixation point

Question 33

What affects the language functions of the right hemisphere in split brains?

Answer 33

Read and understand numbers, letters and short words as long as no verbal response was required

Question 34

What is the right hemisphere usually dominant in?

Answer 34

Comprehending languages,

Question 35

What is an anatomical difference in the two hemispheres

Answer 35

Left Sylvian fissure is longer and less steep than the right,

Question 36

What areas are larger on the left between the two hemispheres?

Answer 36

PLANUM Temporal Broca’s area Insula

Question 37

Which brain region is the best predictor for language dominance?

Answer 37

Insula

Question 38

What did stimulation of the motor cortex in the area that controls the mouth and lips

Answer 38

Immediate speech arrest In other motor cortex areas, evoked cries or rhythmic vocalisation.

Question 39

What sites resulted in word confusion and speech arrest after stimulation?

Answer 39

Posterior lobe near the Sylvian fissure Temporal lobe In the vicinity of the arcuate fasciculus and wernickes area.

Question 40

What conclusions have been made from stimulation of the cerebral cortex?

Answer 40

1. There is a considerable variability in areas stimulated that affects language. 2. Areas between known language regions do not affect language, 3. Stimulation at nearby site ps can evoke different effects but far away areas evoke same effect