Neuroanatomy & Physiology of Lang./Science & Theory/Theories of Lang. Acquisition

what is the study of the structure of the nervous system?

neuroanatomy

what is the study of functions of the nervous system?

neurophysiology

what is a neuron

basic unit of the nervous system

how many neurons are in the brain

100 million - 100 billion

what is gray matter

cell bodies and dendritesw

hat is white matte

axons carrying information between neurons

what are 2 components of the central nervous system (CNS)

brain and spinal cord

what are the 2 components of the peripheral nervous system (PNS)

(12) cranial nerves (from brain stem) & (31) spine nerves (from spinal cord)

what are the anatomical directions of the BRAIN

anterior/rostal, posterior/caudal, ventral/inferior, dorsal/superior

what is the anatomical direction of the SPINAL CORD

anterior/ventral & posterior/dorsal

what color is the brain (cortex)

gray

what does the brain feel like?

slightly soft to the touchw

how much does the brain weigh?

3 pounds

at what age is the brain at its full weight?

12 years old

what are the 3 basic divisions of the brain

brainstem, cerebellum, cerebrum

what is the function of the brainstem

atop spinal cord; critical for basic life functionsw

what is the function of the cerebellum

posterior to brainstem; responsible for coordinated & smooth movementc

what is the function of the cerebrum (2 hemispheres)

wraps around brainstem; include areas for higher cognitive function and language

what are the 3 parts of the brain

cerebral hemispheres, cerebellar hemispheres, brain stem

what is the cerebral cortex covered with

gyro & sulci

gyrus

bump aka convolution

sulcus

groove aka fissurew

what is the cerebral cortex responsible for

reasoning, problem solving, planning, hypothesizing, and other cognitive functions

the “thinking” part of the brain

cerebral cortex

where does language processing live in the brain

lives in the cerebral cortex

function of gyro and sulci

greatly enlarge the surface area of the cortex

how much area does the gyri and sulci enlarges

triples

how much of the surface of cortex is hidden in sulci & fissures

2/3

what is the total surface area of the gyri and sulci

2.5 square ft

how many hemispheres is the brain made up of

2 hemispheres (halves)

what is the hemispheres connected by

corpus callosum

what is the hemisphere covered by

cerebral cortex

each hemisphere controls motor movement where?

opposite side of the body (contralateral)

which side of the brain does language, grammatical understanding, semantic knowledge, logical reasoning, and analytical skills?

left side

which side of the brain does abstract thought & reasoning, figurative language, creativity, problem-soling, attention, & comprehension of sarcasm, body language, etc.

right side

what is corpus callosum

mass of white matter that connects right & left hemisphere

why is corpus callosum important?

communication between hemispheres

how many lobes are there in the brain?

four

what is the frontal lobe in charge of

judgement, foresight, executive function, behavior, humor, regulates emotions, theory of mind, Broca’s area, voluntary motor (primary motor cortex)

what is the homunculus

organization of the primary motor cortex (upside down man)

what is the parietal lobe in charge of

primary sensory cortex, remainder is somatosensory association, visual spatial processing, reading/math/writing/ability, immediate sight memory

what is the temporal lobe in charge of

primary auditory cortex (heschl’s gyrus), memory, auditory processing, processing smell, visual association cortex, receptive language (wernicke’s area)

what is the occipital lobe in charge of?

primary visual cortex, color perception, recognition of familiar faces, recognition of writing, visual association cortex

what is cerebellum important for?

coordination and control of voluntary movement, skilled “smooth” movement, & balancew

what does “little brain” mean

cerebellum

when can the brain stem be seen

by removing hemispheres or looking at brain from underneath

what is the brain stem an addition to

upward extension of spinal cord

what is the brain stem important for

involuntary motor function, sensory processing, breathing/heart rate, alertness, sensory attention

how often does speech processing occur

very rapidly, 50-60 units per second

is there a “speech module” in the brain

the connection between the temporal lobe and frontal lobe seems crucial for phonological processing

is there an innate “language acquisition device”?

grammatical development is unique to humans

what can you have after focal brain injury

specific deficits in morphosyntax

what has shown distinct patterns for complex grammatical comprehension

neuroimaging

what does grammatical understanding require

taking fixed semantic representations into novel and complex representations of sentences

lexical knowledge is distributed…

across the brain

what are the two concepts of lexical knowledge

abstract vs concrete

lexical knowledge of frontal lobe

word knowledge

lexical knowledge of temporal lobe

word storage (long-term memory), semantic memories & categories

semantic processing in left-laterized

portions of inferior frontal lobe and almost entire temporal lobe, some aspects involve right-hemisphere processing (figurative & abstract language)

pragmatics in frontal lobe

reasoning, problem-solving, planning, hypothesizing, social awareness, goal-directed behaviors, willful attention

where and what is Broca’s area

usually in left hemisphere, import. for lang. productionbr

what is Broca’s aphasia

telegraphic speech - leaves out important syntax, only includes content words (may be produced incorrectly)

what is heschl’s gyrus

primary auditory cortex, how brain interprets auditory signals & speech signals, specific neurons respond to specific frequenciesw

where and what is wernicke’s area

left hemisphere, import for language comprehension & meaning/understandingw

what are would be involved in producing syntax

broca’s area, left frontal cortex

what area of brain is involved in semantic knowledge

temporal, wernickes

what area of the brain is involved in understanding figurative language

right hemisphere, temporal lobe, a little frontal

what area of the brain would you expect to be involved in producing speech sounds in words correctly

frontal lobe, motor cortexw

what area of the brain can you expect to be involved in listening to speech sounds

heschl’s gyrus, temporal lobew

what area of the brain is involved in pragmatic skills such as social awareness

frontal lobe/cortex

becoming a good consumer of science

drowning in info but starved for knowledge

questions science can answer about language development

how does lang. develop (in infant, in second-language acquisition), when does language develop (optimal developmental periods?), under what conditions does lang. develop (rate? accuracy? etc.)

what is “good science”

uses rigorous methods to test theories & hypothesis (scientific method) & is peer reviewed (experts In field ensures it meets)

what is a theory

a claim (or hypothesis) that explains a group of facts of phenomena

theory and ____ complement each other

science

who studies lang. development

developmental psychology, linguistics, psycholinguistic, SLP

scientific research role & purpose

descriptive (to describe) , correlationa (to predict)l, casual (to control causation, experimental), casual (to control/explain causation, comparative)

scientific research process

1. identify & define research problem and questions

2. Formulate hypotheses on basis of theory, prior research and/or hunches

3. Design research study to collect data bearing on questions

4. Conduct the research

5. Analyze the data (through statistical methods)

6. Interpret the data in light of the research questions

what is evidence-based practice

integrates theoretical knowledge w/ scientific inquiry to inform decision-making in clinical practice

what does evidence-based practice tie

theory with good science to make sure what works & what does not in chosen field

levels of evidence

• Best - well-designed experimental studies (collecting data to test a theory)

• Better than good- Not as rigorous methods (maybe one or two elements of rigorous scientific method are missing)

• Good - Description of behaviors or phenomena (without actually testing anything); case studies, etc.

• Okay- Expert commentary; committee reports

• N/A- Non-expert opinion; non-expert editorial response

primary vs secondary

primary = the author

secondary = the author reports

research article is the gold standard of…

good science

what do you have to consider in research articles

consider the source (reputable journal?)

goal of research articles

• To understand the scientific contributions the authors are making 

• To find out exactly what the latest developments are in a field

• To learn to think critically about your field and the quality of research and papers

• To find out how a certain piece of research was done

journal articles are current while textbooks are…

out of date & most accessible

anatomy of research article

title & abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, references

title and abstract…

descriptive title, order of authors, abstract is self-contained & provides: (background, purpose of study, study procedures, major findings)

introduction…

begin with broad general statements, use examples, criticize previous work, end with brief overview of current studym

methods…

participants, materials, proceduresr

results…

outcome of experiment, statistical summary in text, tables & figures

discussion…

non-technical interpretations of results (don't have to agree w/ interpretations), link results to og purpose & hypothesis, why results turned out way it did, study limitations

references…

papers cited in text (intro, materials & methods, discussion, etc)

steps to reading research article

1. skin entire paper

2. look for vocab

3. read for comprehension, section by section

4. reflection and criticism

skim entire paper…

major headings, figures, conclusion

look for vocab…

underline words and phrases, import. phrases

read for comprehension, section by section…

intro, materials, discussion

reflection & criticism…

agree with author? enough experiments? patterns?

nurture inspired theories

empiricist theories, human gain all knowledge through experience, we arrive as “blank slates”n

nature inspired theories

nativist theories, much knowledge is innate & genetically transmitted than learned by experience