The Neurology of LanguageMargarita López

Vázquez

The Neurology of Language• Also known as Neurolinguistics • Is the study of how the brain

processes language

• Commonly observe the language of patients who have suffer brain damage.

Anatomy of the nervous system• The part of the nervous system that is of

primary interest to neurolinguists are:

– The Central Nervous System– The spinal cord– The lower brain stem

Anatomy of the nervous system• Lobes:

Anatomy of the nervous system• Convolutions and Fissures:

The cortex of the human brain has a wrinkled appearance. The indentations are called fissures or sulci, and the bulges are called Convolutions or gyri.

Anatomy of the nervous system• Broca’s Area:

During the early ninetieth century, scientists debates the question of whether different parts of the brain serve different mental functions.

– Localizationists– Holists

• Patients could comprehend speech but could not produce it.

Anatomy of the nervous system• Wernicke’s Area:

The German neurologist and psychiatrist Carl Wernicke (1848-1904) studied patients whose language disorders differs markedly from those described by Broca.

• Patients could not comprehend speech but they could produce it.

Hemispherical Specialization

The hemisphere of a person’s brain that is primarily responsible for processing language.

Hemispherical Specialization

• Left-Hemisphere Dominance for Language:– 98% of the population is left dominant for language, and

approximately 2% is right dominant.

• Aphasia: Damage to the left hemisphere has been estimated to cause some from aphasia in approximately 70% of adults with brain damage. Damage to the right hemisphere cause an aphasic disturbance in only about 1% of adults with brain damage.

• Hemispherectomies: Adults undergoing a left hemispherectomy (surgical removal of the left hemisphere) generally suffer a permanent loss of their ability to process language. Right hemispherectomies among adults are less likely to cause this result.

Hemispherical Specialization

• Left Brain Versus Right Brain:

– Left Hemisphere:• Language• Temporal order perception• Calculation• Analysis

– Right Hemisphere:• Nonlinguistic auditory processing• Visuospatial processing• Stereognosis• Synthesis

Hemispherical Specialization

• Handedness:

A preference for using one hand as opposed to the other. An individual who is more handy with the right hand is called right-handed, and one who is more skilled with the left is said to be left-handed. A minority of people are equally skilled with both hands, and are termed ambidextrous.

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