Intro | Broca's Area | Wernicke's Area
Part 1: Image-Mapped Tutorial
Part 2: Matching Self-Test
Part 3: Multiple-Choice Self-Test
Two cortical regions within the left hemisphere are essential for the ability to communicate. This knowledge was gained from the clinical observations of two clinicians that noted the disruption of selective language abilities following localized lesions to these regions.
Figure 10 identifies these cortical language areas and describes the unique language function attributed to each.
| Advanced |
Biological psychologists have learned a great deal about brain function by studying non-human species. Since language is, however, a capacity unique to our species, studies must focus on human brain-behavior relationships. This restriction in research options has hindered our ability to understand how language is processed in the brain relative to other behaviors and mental abilities.
| Suggestions for further study |
Damasio, A.R. & Damasio, H. (1992, September). Brain and language. Scientific American, 267(3), 88-95.
Geschwind, N. (1979, September). Specializations of the human
brain. Scientific American, 241(3), 180-199.
Emphasis on language ability of humans.
Gutin, J.C. (1996, June). A brain that talks. Discovery,
17(6), 82-90.
The developmental neuropsychology of speech in humans.
Hinton, G.E., Plaut, D.C. & Shallice, T. (1993,
October). Simulating brain damage. Scientific American,
76-82.
Simulated brain damage and the neural net for reading.
Pierce, J.R. (1972, September). Communication, Scientific American, 227(3), 31-41.
Shaywitz, S.E. (1996, November). Dyslexia. Scientific American, 98-104.
http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc97/7_12_97/fob2.htm
(Brains Show Signs of Two Bilingual Roads)
from Science News, 1997 - Brain and language for the bilingual
http://www.epub.org.br/cm/n02/historia/broca.htm
(Paul Pierre Broca - A Brief Biography)
Sabbatini, Brain & Mind Electronic Magazine
http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/bbs/Archive/bbs.pulvermueller.html
(Words in the brain's language)
Pulvermueller, F. (19XX). Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
http://www.vh.org/Providers/Textbooks/BrainAnatomy/BrainAnatomy.html
(The Virtual Hospital - The Human Brain)
Williams, Gluhbegovic & Jew, University of Iowa
A superb detailed atlas of human brain dissections.
http://www.med.harvard.edu/AANLIB/home.html
(The Whole Brain Atlas - Harvard University)
Johnson & Becker, Harvard University and Massachusetts Inst. of
Technology
http://www1.biostr.washington.edu/DigitalAnatomist.html
(The Digital Anatomist Project)
University of Washington, On-line Interactive Atlas including 3-D
computer graphics, MRI scans and tissue sections.