Language and
the brain are intricately related and in order to gain a deeper understanding
of Psycholinguistics we must examine this relationship. It is the goal of this
page to describe the various brain regions/structures, language processes and
the intricate connection between them. The structural anatomy of the brain will
be discussed, as it is the fundamental basis of the relationship between
language and the brain. In order to understand the nature and dynamics of
language we must understand how it relates to the brain. Language is a function
of the structure of the human brain and several brain regions have been
identified with linguistic capabilities.
Parts of the Brain
1. Broca's Area
Broca's area is one of two
key areas involved in language comprehension and production. The area is
located in the inferior frontal gyrus and is intricately connected to speech
production. This brain area was first discovered by Pierre Broca when he
noticed specific speech impairments in the patients he was treating. These
patients had lost the ability to speak when damage occurred to this specific
region of their brain. This brain region then became known as Broca’s area and
the corresponding language production deficit was named Broca’s aphasia.
Various studies of patients with chronic aphasia have played an important role
in understanding this affliction in relation to speech and language functions.
Through the use of diagnostic imaging such as functional MRI (fMRI), Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI), many activation areas for a variety of language tasks
have been identified within Broca’s area. The discovery of this brain region
has shed vast insight into language abilities and functions and is central to
the understanding of language, language deficits as well as psycholinguistics
capabilities.
2. Wernicke's Area
Wernicke's area is
another very important region of the brain intricately involved with language.
As part of the cerebral cortex it is directly linked to speech and involved in
the comprehension of written and spoken language(Tyler & Marslen-Wilson,
2008). Wernicke's area is located in the posterior section of the superior
temporal gyrus. Specifically, this area encircles the auditory cortex on the
Sylvian fissure. It is at the sylvian fissure where the temporal lobe and
parietal lobe meet and comprises a portion of Brodmann's area (Casey et al.,
2005). Wernicke's area is named after Carl Wernicke (pictured left), who
hypothesized there was a connection between the left posterior section of the
superior temporal gyrus and the mimicking of words associated with the sensory
and motor images of spoken words.
(Source: https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Psycholinguistics/Language_and_the_Brain)
