Thinking, Planning, and Language - Chapter 5 Important Topics

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

A technique that measures brain activity by monitoring blood flow; studies using it have found more extensive left-hemisphere activation for words presented alone and activity on both sides of the brain when words appear in a narrative or other context.

aphasias

Language disorders caused by damage to particular regions of the left hemisphere that disturb the production or comprehension of language; they are often the result of a stroke.

Broca's area

A region of the frontal lobe (usually in the left hemisphere) that is vital for speech production; damage to it causes non-fluent aphasia in which speech is slow and halting but comprehension is mostly intact.

executive function

The higher-level processing carried out by the prefrontal cortex that supervises everything else the brain does like a company's CEO; it is a blend of three core skills: inhibition and working memory and shifting.

mentalizing

Making sense of your own thought processes and those of others; it underlies empathy and "theory of mind" and relies heavily on the medial prefrontal cortex and parts of the lateral prefrontal cortex.

concept cells

Neurons in the temporal lobe that fire for a particular person or object and work together in interconnected assemblies; the cells encoding "needle" and "thread" and "sewing" and "button" may be linked; these cells and their connections form the basis of semantic memory.

D.B.O.

A 72-year-old man whose multiple strokes blocked visual input from reaching the anterior temporal regions where semantic processing occurs; he could rarely name objects by sight but could easily identify them by touch or sound.

agnosia

A problem recognizing and identifying visual stimuli caused by damage to certain areas of the temporal lobes; it occurs in several forms depending on the exact location of the damage.

fusiform face area (FFA)

A region on the underside of the temporal lobe that is critical for recognizing faces; it responds more strongly to images with faces than without.

prosopagnosia

"Face blindness" that results from damage to the fusiform face area on both sides of the brain.

parahippocampal place area

A region near the fusiform face area that responds to specific locations such as pictures of buildings or particular scenes.

semantic system

A constellation of regions (the posterior parietal cortex and parts of the temporal lobe and regions of the prefrontal cortex) that encode words; it responds more strongly to words than to other sounds and more strongly to natural speech than to garbled speech.

visual word form area (VWFA)

A region in the fusiform gyrus that recognizes written letters and words in speakers of different languages; its connections to visual areas help the brain link meaning to written language.

occipitotemporal cortex

A region involved in visual recognition and reading; it works with the parietal cortex to identify the shape of a written number or symbol and connect it to its concept.

Patient Tan

Louis Victor Leborgne; a man who could speak only the syllable "tan" yet could understand others' speech; Paul Broca found a lesion in his frontal lobe at autopsy that led to the identification of Broca's area.

lesion

A damaged area of brain tissue; studying patients with lesions has revealed which regions support specific language functions.

Broca's aphasia (non-fluent aphasia)

Aphasia from damage to the left frontal lobe in which speech is slow and halting and effortful and often lacks complex word or sentence structure but comprehension is mostly intact.

Wernicke's aphasia (fluent aphasia)

Aphasia from damage to the left temporal lobe in which speech sounds normal in tone and speed but contains errors in sound and word choice and is often unintelligible and comprehension of speech is impaired; first described by Carl Wernicke in patient S.A.

pure word deafness

An aphasia caused by damage to the superior temporal lobes in both hemispheres; patients can hear sounds but cannot link the sound of words to their meaning while still understanding written language.

FOXP2

A language-associated gene that codes for a protein that switches other genes on and off in particular brain regions; rare mutations cause difficulty making the mouth and jaw movements needed for speech and disrupt signaling in the dorsal striatum.

critical period

A period of heightened plasticity in brain development when certain experiences and sensory inputs are required for the formation of functional brain circuits; baby birds learn their songs during one just as human babies learn language.

auditory feedback

The ability to hear one's own attempts at imitation; song learning in baby birds and speech learning in babies both depend on it.

sensory-motor circuit for speech

A circuit in the left posterior temporal lobe thought to help communication between the systems for speech recognition and speech production; it is involved in speech development and likely supports verbal short-term memory.

inhibition

The ability to suppress a behavior or action when it is inappropriate such as calling out loudly in a classroom; one of the three core skills of executive function.

shifting

Also called mental flexibility; the ability to adjust ongoing behavior when conditions require it and the third core skill of executive function.

Lucia's hand game

A task for children in which they make a fist when shown a finger and a finger when shown a fist; it relies on inhibition (suppressing automatic imitation) and working memory (holding the rule in mind).

decision-making

A skill built on the fundamentals of executive function that requires weighing values and understanding rules and planning for the future and predicting the outcomes of choices.

orbitofrontal cortex

A region of the prefrontal cortex just behind the eyes that is important in affective decision-making especially in situations involving reward and punishment; it has also been implicated in addiction and social behavior.

social neuroscience

The study of the neural functions underlying interpersonal behavior such as reading social cues and understanding social rules and choosing socially appropriate responses and understanding oneself and others.

theory of mind

Understanding the mental states of others and the reasons for their actions; it underlies some of our most complex mental abilities along with empathy.

medial prefrontal cortex

A prefrontal region heavily involved in social skills such as mentalizing; several of its regions help us make judgments about ourselves and others.

temporoparietal junction (TPJ)

A region at the border of the temporal and parietal lobes that appears to focus on others and not on the self; it is also activated when we watch actions that seem at odds with intentions or are meant to deceive.

mirror neurons

Neurons first identified in the motor cortex of rhesus macaques that fire both when the animal performs an action and when it watches another perform that action; their proposed role in theory of mind and mentalizing and empathy is controversial.