Neuroscience Ch. 12

The Neurology of Language

where is Broca’s Area located?

Inferior Frontal Gyrus

Superior Temporal Gyrus

Primary Auditory Cortex, Wernicke’s Area

there are comprehension areas in which two areas of the brain?

Middle Temporal Gyrus and Inferior Parietal Lobe

Perisylvian Region

the region associated with language processing, encompassing Broca's area Wernicke's area and Primary Auditory Cortex

What does the Perisylvian Region border?

the Sylvian fissure (lateral)

Zone of Language

The Left Perisylvian Language Area, near the sylvian fissure

Precentral gyrus

The primary motor cortex responsible for controlling voluntary movements.

Superior frontal gyrus

Working memory and spatial processing

Middle frontal gyrus

Involved in literacy development

Inferior Frontal Gyrus

Broca’s area - speech production

Postcentral Gyrus

Houses the primary somatosensory cortex, which processes somatosensory information, like touch, pain, and temperature.

Superior Temporal Gyrus

Contains auditory cortex and Wernicke’s area

Supramarginal Gyrus

Integrates sensory info, involved in spatial and phonological processing

Lateral sulcus (Lateral/Sylvian Fissure)

A prominent groove that separates the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, crucial for language processing and auditory function.

Central sulcus

Separates the frontal lobe from the parietal lobe; plays a key role in motor and sensory processing.

What areas are involved in auditory comprehension?

Heschl’s gyrus (PAC), Wernicke’s Area, Broca’s Area

Where does processing for auditory comprehension begin?

Primary Auditory Cortex - Heschl’s Gyrus

Step 1 of processing for auditory comprehension

1. PAC analyzes the signal. Left PAC - sensitive to speech characteristics. Right PAC - sensitive to pitch.

Step 2 of processing for auditory comprehension

2. Information is sent to Wernicke’s Area to attach meaning - semantic processing - and phonological processing

Step 3 of processing for auditory comprehension

3. When syntax is complex, Broca’s area is recruited

What structure is involved in syntactic structure

Superior Temporal Gyrus

What structure is involved in verb processing

Posterior Temporal Lobe

When syntax is complex, what area is involved?

Broca’s area - inferior frontal gyrus

Aphasia

An acquired language disorder that can involve all modes of communication to varying degrees; core symptom is some degree of anomia

2 main classifications of aphasia

fluent or nonfluent

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Aphasia classifications

Nonfluent Aphasias

Broca’s Aphasia, Transcortical Motor Aphasia, Global Aphasia, Mixed Transcortical Aphasia

Fluent Aphasias

Wernicke’s Aphasia, Transcortical Sensory Aphasia, Conduction Aphasia, Anomic Aphasia

What is the common uniting characteristic of all persons with aphasia?

Anomia - word retrieval and word finding difficulty

What are 3 characteristics of aphasia?

Anomia, Paraphasia and Perseveration

What is a paraphasia

Substitution in speech

Semantic Paraphasia

substitution of a word related in meaning or from the same semantic class

ex: fork for spoon; hammer for nail

Formal Paraphasia

substitution that is phonologically similar to the target word by sound but not associated by meaning

ex: rabbit for rapid

Phonemic paraphasia

substitution that has some phonemic errors of the intended word

ex: lelophone for telephone

Neologistic Paraphasia

substitution of a jargon word that may or may not have similarities to the intended word

ex: repuco for cat; glat for cat

Perseveration

Repetitive verbal behaviors; person “gets stuck” on a verbal production

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Broca’s Aphasia characteristics

Effortful speech, agrammatism, aware

Transcortical Motor Aphasia characteristics

Like Broca’s, but can repeat

Global Aphasia characteristics

severe, minimal speech output

Mixed Transcortical Aphasia

like global but can repeat

Wernicke’s Aphasia

Fluent nonsense, paraphasias, unaware, press of speech

Transcortical Sensory Aphasia

like wernicke’s, but can repeat

Conduction Aphasia characteristics

Can’t repeat, self-correcting behaviors

Anomic Aphasia characteristics

just word-finding issues