NEUR305: Language

What is speech?

The output of sounds from one human intended for another

What is language?

The result of the ability to translate ideas into signals meant for another person (making sounds to communicate ideas)

What is communication?

The ability to convey ideas to one another, through any media/channel (ex. birds chirping)

What are the key features of language?

• Symbolic (uses words to express an abstract idea)

• Syntax (creates sentences and phrases)

• Recursive (ability to take discrete elements, like words or numbers, and recombining them to create infinite variety of expression)

What’s the main difference between animal and human language?

Recursion (ex. great great grandmother)!

Repeating chunks but creating different meanings.

What’s a phoneme?

Smallest unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another (tab v. tag)

May be one letter or more!

What’s morphology?

Words and their parts (including prefixes and suffixes, smallest units of meaning)

What’s syntax?

The rules to form sentences and phrases

What semantics?

Literal meaning

ex. “It’s raining cats and dogs” means it is actually raining furry animals

What’s pragmatics?

Meaning in context!

ex. “It’s raining cats and dogs” means it’s raining very hard

Reasons a person may have trouble speaking?

• Dysphonia (injury or overuse of muscle fibers or sound production organs for speech)

• Damage to brain areas resulting in loss of ability to either produce or comprehend language

What are aphasias?

• Problems with language comprehension and formulation!

• Difficult to remember words or losing ability to speak, read, or write.

• Can also affect visual languages (ex. sign language)

• Caused by brain damage (stroke, tumor, infection, dementia, etc.)

What is expressive aphasia?

Difficulty generating language (ex. Borca’s area)

What is receptive aphasia?

Difficulty understanding and recalling language (ex. Wernicke’s area)

What is Wenicke’s area?

Associated with speech comprehension!

What is Broca’s area?

Associated with language processing, speech or sign processing or production!

What connects the Broca and Wernicke’s?

The arcuate fasciculus!

What are characteristics of Broca’s aphasia?

• Halting speech

• Tendency to repeat phrases or words (perseveration—repeating)

• Disordered syntax

• Disordered grammar

• Disordered structure of individual words

• Comprehension intact

CANNOT GENERATE (can extend to language, writing, drawing)

What are characteristics of Wernicke’s aphasia?

• Fluent speech

• Little spontaneous repetition

• Syntax adequate

• Grammar adequate

• Contrived or inappropriate words

• Comprehension not intact

FINE SYNTAX BUT GIBEBRISH

What is expressive aphasia?

Affects one’s ability to write and draw!

What is conduction aphasia?

Impaired reptition (can’t repeat something said to them), BUT expression/comprehension INTACT

Explanation includes damage to arcuate fasiculus.