Language and Neuropsychology

These flashcards cover key concepts related to language and neuropsychology, including definitions and important models.

Language

A system of communication using sounds, gestures, or symbols that enable us to express our feelings, thoughts, ideas, and experiences.

Lateralization

The tendency for certain processes to be specialized to one hemisphere of the brain, such as language primarily in the left hemisphere.

Broca's Area

Region of the frontal lobe associated with speech production and language processing.

Wernicke's Area

Region of the brain that is important for language comprehension.

Aphasia

A language disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate, often occurring after brain damage.

Stroke

A medical condition where poor blood flow to the brain results in cell death, leading to potential language impairments.

Dual Stream Model

A model of language processing that maps sound to meaning and sound to motor representations.

Semantic Dementia

A form of dementia that causes progressive loss of knowledge for all concepts due to the degeneration of frontal-temporal regions.

Predictive Processing

The use of context and prior knowledge to anticipate how language should be parsed as it is being heard or read.

Corpus Callosum

A bundle of neural fibers connecting the left and right hemispheres of the brain, important for interhemispheric communication.

Prosody

The rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech that convey meaning and emotion.

The Wada Test

A neurological test used to determine the language-dominant hemisphere of the brain by temporarily anesthetizing one hemisphere.

Fluent Aphasia

A type of aphasia characterized by normal fluent speech, but with poor comprehension and often nonsensical output.

Non-Fluent Aphasia

A type of aphasia where speech production is impaired, but comprehension remains relatively intact.

Apraxia

A motor disorder affecting the ability to plan and execute speech movements, not due to muscular weakness.

Dysarthria

A speech disorder resulting from neurological injury, causing difficulty in controlling the muscles used for speech.

Situation Models

Mental representations that integrate information from sentences and context to form an understanding of events.

Default-Mode Network

A network of brain regions that are active when a person is not focused on the external environment, linked with self-referential thoughts and imagination.