Chapter 12 Language and the brain

Chapter 12 Language and the brain

1. The hemispheres of the brain

   • The general structure of the brain is that of a whole which is divided in two vertical halves that seems to be mirror images of one another.
   • Like walnut with the two parts joined around the middle

2. The Hemispheres

   • central nervous system
   • cotex
   • Right and Left Hemispher
     • -Each cerebral hemisphere is divided into four parts or lobes -From front to back there are the frontal, temporal, parietal (located above the temporal), and the occipital.
       • -Frontal Lobe: General functions such as cognition. - Temporal Lobe: Hearing -Parietal Lobe: General somaesthetic sensing (feeling in the arms, legs, face, etc) Occipital Lobe: Vision

3. Left and right hemispheres control opposite sides of the body

   • the right hand, the right arm, and the right side of the face, while the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body
   • The left hemisphere dominates the right

4. The Sylvian and Rolando fissures

   • The processing of speaking, listening, reading, writing, and singing

5. ‘Heschl’s gyri

   • In the upper part of the temporal lobe is the main area involved in auditory reception

6. Broca’s area

   • The lower back part of the frontal lobe is primarily involved in the encoding of speech

7. Wernicke’s area

   • An area in the upper back part of the temporal lobe, extending upwards into the parietal lobe, plays a major part in the comprehension of speech.

8. The bilingual brain

   • Two central issues have been the focus of research: whether different languages are represented in the different hemispheres of the brain, and if the age at which a second language is learned is related to lateralization.

9. Studies showing right-hemisphere involvement

   • Their position is based partly on the finding that aphasia (language dysfunction) is more likely to be found following right hemisphere lesions in bilinguals (10 per cent) than in monolinguals (1–2 per cent)

10. Reading and writing aphasias: dyslexias

    • There are many sorts of dyslexia, one category of which is due to damage to the brain, after reading and writing have been acquired

11. Methods of investigating brain and language

    • The oldest method, that used by Broca himself, is the post-mortem examination of the brains of patients who had displayed language disorders while they were alive. The abnormalities he found in certain areas of their brains in post-mortems correlated with the language symptoms they displayed in life