Language and The Brain

Name : Icha Ramandhani
Classs : 5 TI 2
Nim : E1D021189
Subject : Psycolinguistic
Language and
Brain
Chapter 12 Language and Brain
12.1. General brain structure and function
12.1.2. The hemispheres of the brain
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. This division of the brain into lobes is loosely based on physical features and not on actual
separations.
General functions such as cognition (to some degree) occur in the frontal lobe, hearing occurs in the temporal lobe,
general some aesthetic sensing (feel- ing in the arms, legs, face, etc.) in the parietal lobe, and vision in the occipital lobe. Each hemisphere
has these lobes with these functions. As we shall see later, there are other hemispheric-speciﬁc functions that are also located in some of
these areas. For example, the left hemisphere typically involves language.
The areas that have been proposed for the processing of speaking, listening, reading, writing, and singing are mainly
located at or around the Sylvian and Rolando fissures.
Overhead View
Left side (lateral) view
12.2
Hemispheric structure and
function
Left and right hemispheres control
opposite sides of the body
The brain controls the body by a division of labour,

so to speak. The left hemisphere controls the right
side of the body, including the right hand, the right
arm, and the right side of the face, while the right
hemisphere controls the left side of the body. Those
who have suffered a cerebral haemorrhage,
commonly called a ‘stroke’, provide clear examples
of how this kind of cross-over control operates. A
stroke in the right hemisphere of the brain will affect
victims on the left side of the body. Thus, they can
lose control over the muscles in the left hand, left
leg, and the left side of the face (including that side
of the tongue and mouth). A stroke to the left part of
the brain will similarly affect the right side of the
body.
Hand and foot
Sound preferences
Preference This generally indicates that the left Similarly, from the left ear a big bundle of fibres
hemisphere dominates the right hemisphere. A left- will cross over to the right hemisphere, and a small
hemisphere-dominant person would tend to use the bundle of fibres will go directly to the left
right hand and the right foot while a person who is hemisphere. The left hemisphere is the main
right-hemisphere dominant would tend to use the language hemisphere for true
left hand and left foot. The lack of strong righthanders. Because the right ear hearing ‘da’ has
dominance for lefthanders is believed to be a factor a big bundle of fibres to carry the sound impulse to
contributing to speech disorders and to various the left hemisphere, the sound passes to the speech-
reading and writing dysfunctions, such as stuttering processing centres in the left hemisphere. On the
and dyslexia, which includes the reversal or mirror- other hand, the ‘ba’ speech sound coming in the left
imaging of letters and words when reading or ear has only a small number of fibres with which to
writing. carry the sound directly to the speech-processing
centres in the left hemisphere for language
processing.
Listening behind
a closed door
This is because speech sounds are processed in the left

hemisphere, the first big impulse of speech sound will be
transmitted to the left hemisphere from the right ear, and the first
big impulse will precede and dominate any other big impulse.
Lateralized hemispheric
functioning
Left-hemisphere specializations
Left-hemisphere specializations
Research has clearly shown that language

centres predominate in one hemisphere or the
other. The main language centres are Broca’s
area, in the front part of the brain, Wernicke’s
area, towards the back, and the angular gyrus
which is even further back. Broca’s area and
Wernicke’s area are connected by tissue – the
arcuate fasciculus. In addition to language, the
left hemisphere is concerned with logical and
analytical operations, and higher mathematics.
Lateralized hemispheric functioning

1. Broca’s area, the motor area, and speech production
12.3 Language Broca further noted that the speech area is adjacent to the
areas and their region of the motor cortex that controls the movement of the
muscles of the articulators of speech: the tongue, lips, jaw,
functioning soft palate, vocal cords, etc.
2. Wernicke’s area, the auditory area, and speech

understanding
The model that Wernicke posited over a century ago is still
nguage
largely the model which most researchers use today in
o u t la describing how we understand speech. According to
Part ab nd their Wernicke, on hearing a word, the sound of a word goes from
areas a ing the ear to the auditory area and then to Wernicke’s area.
n
functio
12.5 The
bilingual brain
The fact that right-hemisphere difficulties are

involved in so many studies suggests the distinct
possibility that a second language sometimes locates
in the right hemisphere and sometimes not. There
may be variables that determine hemispheric location
but these have not been identified as yet. One such
factor may be the age at which the second language
was learned.
Language disorders:
aphasias
Two basic groups: Broca’s

1 aphasias and Wernicke’s
aphasias
4 Reading and writing
aphasias: dyslexias
2 Broca’s aphasia
5 Sign-language aphasia
3 Wernicke’s aphasia 6 Localism and holism

Sign Right-handed deaf signers, like hearing
persons, exhibit aphasia when critical left-
Languange hemisphere areas are damaged (Poizner et
al., 1989). Approximately one dozen case
studies provide sufficient detail to implicate
left-hemisphere structures in sign-language
disturbances. A subset of cases provide
neuroradiological or autopsy reports to
confirm left-hemisphere involvement, and
Left-hemis provide compelling language assessment to
p h ere implicate aphasic language disturbance
damage aff
ects
signing
12.8.1 Traditional
methods: post-mortem,
brain-injured
people, electrical
stimulation
12.8.2 High-tech methods: CAT, PET,

MRI, and ERPs
High-tech methods: CAT, PET, MRI, and ERPs
The comparatively limited understanding we have of In recent years, revolutionary new methods have
the neurological basis of language in the brain is the been developed that lend themselves nicely to the
result of the application of a relatively small number of study of language and the brain. These involve
methods. The oldest method, that used by Broca powerful new techniques in imaging: CT or CAT
himself, is the post-mortem examination of the brains (Computerized Axial Tomography), PET
of patients who had displayed language disorders while (Positron Emission Tomography), Magnetic
they were alive. The abnormalities he found in certain Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Event-Related
areas of their brains in post-mortems correlated with Potentials (ERPs)
the language symptoms they displayed in life.

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Name : Icha Ramandhani

12.1.2. The hemispheres of the brain

The brain controls the body by a division of labour,

This is because speech sounds are processed in the left

Research has clearly shown that language

Lateralized hemispheric functioning

2. Wernicke’s area, the auditory area, and speech

The model that Wernicke posited over a century ago is still

The fact that right-hemisphere difficulties are

Two basic groups: Broca’s

3 Wernicke’s aphasia 6 Localism and holism

12.8.2 High-tech methods: CAT, PET,

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