The ability of speech and language processing has always been a defining factor in what makes humans unique, especially from their closest living relative primates. This paper will analyze the differences in modern human brain structure and the common chimpanzee brain structure (pan troglodytes) in regards to the language and speech function. Language and speech processing in modern humans will focus on two parts of the cerebral cortex: Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area, which is responsible for generating speech and language and receiving speech and language respectively. Broca’s area will be analyzed by the two parts it is made up of: Brodmann area 44, associated mainly with phonological tasks and Brodmann area 45, associated mainly with semantic processing. Wernicke’s area receives and interprets speech and language and is shown to be connected to Broca’s area by a neuronal tract known as the arcuate fasciculus. The structure of the common chimpanzee brain is shown to have homologous structures to Broca’s and Wernicke’s area in modern humans, but is significantly smaller, and is unable to perform the same developed functions as modern humans in regards to language and speech, but is much more limited and simplified. Speech and language are key components that distinguish modern humans from their close relatives primates. In the modern human brain, located on the frontal lobe, is the motor cortex or strip that regulates the facial and oral muscles. They include the tongue,
The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast Broca’s and Wernickie’s area of the brain. The approach to identifying parts of the brain that involved language started in 1861 when the brain of a not long ago patient who had an unusual disorder passed away, by a French neurosurgeon, named Paul Broca. (Dubuc 2002) The patient whose name became known as “Tan” was the result of that being the only sound he could make, the syllable tan.
There are two cortical areas required for speech known as the Wernicke area and the Broca area. The Wernicke area is a small part of the brain that helps us to understand language. It is usually found in the back portion of the left temporal lobe. The Broca area also works with speech, but is the motor speech area, whereas the Wernicke area is the sensory speech area. They are connected by the arcuate fasciculus, a bundle of neurons. When reading a book out loud, the words are recognized and comprehended by the Wernicke area, and in the Broca area the words are formulated as it will be spoken.
Enduring aspects of the human neuronal structure can also change over time because of recurring activations of cells and pathways in a more complex way compared to others. Neuroplasticity is more active in children, even though it can also take place in adults. Mirror neurons play a major role in the development of language, speech, and gestures. Mirror neurons allow the human to understand the actions that are performed by other people by mapping those actions onto other actions that the human can also perform by itself. Language evolved from manual structures that finally developed into standard conventions that understandable across the Homo sapiens.
Linguistic discourse arises from the multiple areas: from studies of primate social behavior, from the comparison of existing human languages, from research on the development of language in children, from studies of genetic and anatomical structures, from cross-cultural studies, from the observation of earning and forming lexicon, and from the studies of the communication of bees, birds, and mammals (cit). Initially, though, language, spoken or signed, was a gestural system that evolved from so-called “mirror system” in the primate brain. Mirror system is a mechanism that allows to equate self actions with actions of others; mirror system's neurons are part of dorsal visual system (citation). The dorsal pathway projects visual information
The Broca's area is a part of the brain responsible for our ability to speak and communicate. This part of the brain is also involved with language comprehension as well as hand movement. While engaging in conversation the hippocampus will be responsible for the long-term memories specifically facts and events. Memories
The Wernicke’s area is considered the second language area of the brain because it helps control how the brain understands languages; in contrast to the function of the
With that, before making an empirical decision as to which region the neuroscientist will remove, it is important note the other regions of the brain associated therein. D'Ausilio, Craighero, and Fadiga (2012) infer that the frontal cortex of the brain is not only associated with motor speech production, but it is highly implicated with executive functioning, and short-term memory. Aside from housing Wernicke’s area, the left parietal region of the brain is also associated with general sensory processing (including the sensory speech area), gustation, as well as higher order mental functions, often regarded as an association area (DeWitt & Rauschecker, 2013). Association areas of the brain act to provide and receive both afferent and efferent stimuli, insofar as to connect various regions of the brain; a notion which is believed to be linked to higher-order cognitive functioning (Buckner & Krinenen, 2013). Now that the various regions of the brain associated with either both Broca’s and Wernicke’s area have been established, a more accurate logical deduction pertaining to the removal of the former or the latter can be
First, the part of the brain that is responsible for higher forms of thought such as language, the broca’s area which pertains to the production of speech, located in the frontal lobe, is much needed for communication with my friends. When I first seen my friends it was the broca’s area that allowed me to speak smoothly and fluently to them, and as we sat around the table together eating pizza and playing cards it was this part of the brain that indorsed my friends and I to socialize as it helps everyone talk to one another. The Wernicke’s area that is affiliated with the broca’s area is the part of the brain that helps understand the meaning of words.
By 12,000 B.C.E., humans had evolved to more easily facilitate the social and physical demands of everyday life. The average Homo sapiens evolved to have a brain capacity nearly equal to one of a modern human, along with an erect posture and opposable thumbs. These adaptations contributed to their mental state on a day to day basis, allowing them to logically think through their actions. The larger brain capacity soon allowed series of grunts to evolve into a pattern that could be classified as language, making interaction
Humans use language to communicate to each other. Communication can take many complex forms such as body language, sign language, oral and written language. Gee and Hayes (2011), inform the reader that oral language is the part of a language that has evolved over time to become humans inherited language. Throughout history, humans have changed the spoken words to suit their culture and specific rituals. Over time, the spoken word was adapted to “engage in language varieties for mathematics, science, law, medicine, engineering, game design, anime fandom, and many others” (Hayes, 2011. P.8). Writing is only a relatively recent transformation and, therefore, is not considered to be part of evolution.
Language is a cognitive function that most of us take for granted. It starts from early on, some say at conception, and it develops in complexity as we get older. It is an essential part of communication and without it its development would be greatly hindered. This natural process requires complex structures and reasoning, the bringing together of sounds and words to develop concrete ideas and thoughts. In this paper we will discuss the components of language and how it relates to cognitive processes.
The ability of humans to speak and understand language is made possible by one of the most complex and vital organs in the human body, the
The study of the communication of animals and the comparison of their communication to ours as humans is linguistic ethology (McNulty, 2017). And with all discussions of animal communication, it is important to remember that communication, and even language doesn’t necessarily equate to speech. The species of monkeys has been the most commonly discussed concept of animal communication that I have been exposed to, which is what interested me in this topic. Reading Ammie Kalan’s research on this, she focuses on the communication amongst wild chimpanzees and their food calls. However, their ability for communication has the ability to extend further. It has been discovered many times in the past that chimpanzees have the capacity to communicate
How is a person’s sense of self, or a society’s sense of that person—specifically, their class position—bound to speech, dialect, sociolect, and the phonological components of language?
Phonemic awareness is the knowledge that words are made up of phonemes, the smallest units of sound in a word. Phonemic awareness also involves being able to manipulate sounds by blending them, taking them apart, and changing them. For example, the word “bat,” is made up of three phonemes. The first is /b/, the second is /a/, and the third is /t/. Putting all of these graphemes together makes the word “bat.” If I were to change the /b/ to a /r/, the word would change to an entirely different animal (Cunningham & Allington, 2007).