Nervous System Locations Involved in Language

Question 1

What is language?

Answer 1

A system of communication in which symbols are used to express ideas

Question 2

What percent of right-handed people have left hemisphere dominance for language?

Answer 2

95%

Question 3

What percent of left-handed people have right hemisphere dominance for language?

Answer 3

18.8%

Question 4

What percent of left-handed people have bilateral language functions?

Answer 4

9.8%

Question 5

Where is Broca’s area?

Answer 5

Frontal lobe; posterior part of inferior frontal gyrus

Question 6

What is Broca’s area responsible for?

Answer 6

Expressive speech

Question 7

Where is Wernicke’s area?

Answer 7

Temporal lobe; posterior 2/3 of superior temporal gyrus and can extend into inferior parietal lobe

Question 8

What is Wernicke’s area responsible for?

Answer 8

Auditory comprehension

Question 9

Where is the angular gyrus?

Answer 9

Junction of the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes

Question 10

What is the angular gyrus responsible for?

Answer 10

Reading and writing

Question 11

Where is the supramarginal gyrus?

Answer 11

Posterior parietal lobe

Question 12

What is the supramarginal gyrus responsible for?

Answer 12

Language perception and processing

Question 13

What is the arcuate fasciculus?

Answer 13

Association fibers connecting the frontal lobe with the posterior portion of the temporo-parietal junction

Question 14

What is the arcuate fasciculus considered a part of?

Answer 14

Superior longitudinal fasciculus

Question 15

What does the arcuate fasciculus have connectivity to?

Answer 15

Broca’s area or pre-motor/motor areas

Question 16

What does the arcuate fasciculus have an important role in?

Answer 16

Repetition

Question 17

What is aphasia?

Answer 17

Acquired language impairment that results from damage to language centers of the brain

Question 18

What is the purpose of language?

Answer 18

1.) Understanding what is communicated
2.) Expressing thoughts

Question 19

What are characteristics of fluent aphasia?

Answer 19

1.) Relatively normal prosodic variations of pitch, loudness, and stress
2.) Words flow in a manner that sounds fairly normal
3.) May be empty speech or jargon

Question 20

What are 4 characteristics of non-fluent aphasia?

Answer 20

1.) Effortful, hesitant speech
2.) Single words and short phrases
3.) Limited use of functor words (is, the)
4.) Telegraphic speech

Question 21

What is typically preserved in non-fluent aphasia?

Answer 21

Auditory comprehension

Question 22

What type of lesions are typically associated with non-fluent aphasia?

Answer 22

Anterior lesions

Question 23

What is another name for non-fluent aphasia?

Answer 23

Broca’s aphasia

Question 24

What type of lesion is typically associated with fluent aphasia?

Answer 24

Posterior lesions

Question 25

What is typically preserved in fluent aphasia?

Answer 25

Fluidity and prosodity

Question 26

What is another name for fluent aphasia?

Answer 26

Wernicke's aphasia

Question 27

What is anomia?

Answer 27

Difficulty naming objects and pictures

Question 28

What kind of lesion is typically associated with anomia?

Answer 28

Lesions throughout the left hemisphere

Question 29

What is the presence of anomia not indicative of?

Answer 29

Lesion location

Question 30

Lesions within this region may disrupt the ability to repeat

Answer 30

Perisylvian region

Question 31

Injury to the perisylvian region often includes injury to what other structure?

Answer 31

Arcuate fasciculus

Question 32

Lesions within this region may result in relatively preserved ability to repeat

Answer 32

The periphery of the persylvian region

Question 33

What is agraphia?

Answer 33

Disorder of writing

Question 34

What is pure agraphia?

Answer 34

Minimal or no aphasic deficits other than an ability to write

Question 35

Where are lesions typically associated with agraphia?

Answer 35

Left superior frontal lobe/region

Question 36

What is agraphia not due to?

Answer 36

Motor deficits or visual-spatial impairments

Question 37

What is alexia?

Answer 37

Disorder of reading in a previously literate person

Question 38

What aphasia often overlaps with alexia with agraphia?

Answer 38

Wernicke's Aphasia

Question 39

Where are lesions associated in alexia with agraphia?

Answer 39

Left inferior parietal lobe; involves supramarginal and angular gyri

Question 39

How is language in alexia with agraphia?

Answer 39

Spoken language is usually intact, many with fluent paraphasias

Question 40

What is alexia without agraphia?

Answer 40

Inability to read is an isolated deficit

Question 41

How is langugage in alexia without agraphia?

Answer 41

Intact speech, comprehension, and writing

Question 42

What causes lesions often associated with in alexia without agraphia?

Answer 42

Left posterior cerebral artery stroke

Question 43

What is disconnection syndrome?

Answer 43

Damage to areas within the medial occipital and temporal lobes, across the splenium of corpus callosum

Question 44

What is disconnection syndrome associated with?

Answer 44

Alexia without agraphia

Question 45

What are 2 functions of language in the right hemisphere?

Answer 45

Extralinguistic functions Paralinguistics functions

Question 46

What are 3 extralinguistic functions?

Answer 46

1.) Attention 2.) Memory 3.) Visual-spatial skills

Question 47

What are 4 paralinguistic functions?

Answer 47

1.) Pragmatic skills 2.) Discourse comprehension 3.) Interpreting abstract language 4.) Using and interpreting nonverbal communication

Question 48

What are the pathways of listening to a conversation?

Answer 48

1.) Hearing a sound 2.) Transmits to auditory nerve 3.) CN 4.) SOC 5.) IC 6.) MGB of thalamus 7.) Auditory cortex/sylvian fissure 8.) Wernicke's Area/supramarginal gyrus

Question 49

What are the pathways of responding to a conversation?

Answer 49

1.) Arcuate fasciculus 2.) Supplementary/Premotor cortices 3.) Primary Motor Cortex/Broca's Area 4.) Pons/Medulla 5.) CN 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 6.) Speech