Deck 16: Language and Lateralization

Question 1

The challenge facing researchers who seek to study the functions of the two brain hemispheres is that the hemispheres have many connections and function as one. The solution to this has been to study _______ patients in which the _______ has been cut, thereby separating the connection between the hemispheres.

A) split-brain; planum temporal
B) two-brain; primary auditory cortex
C) split-brain; corpus callosum
D) two-brain; fusiform gyrus

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Split-brain individuals are those who have undergone surgery to _______ as a treatment for _______.

A) fusiform gyrus; prosopagnosia
B) planum temporale; astereognosis
C) Broca's area; prosody
D) the corpus callosum; epilepsy

Answer 2

D

Question 3

A prominent structural asymmetry in the brains of typical humans is apparent in the _______, which is located on the superior surface of the _______ lobe.

A) Wernicke's area; frontal
B) fusiform gyrus; parietal
C) planum temporale; temporal
D) corpus callosum; parietal

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Under which circumstance would a doctor request that a patient undergo a Wada test?

A) If a patient has recently had a stroke
B) If a patient may need to undergo neurosurgery
C) The doctor is attempting to diagnose an aphasia
D) The doctor wants to localize the brain region that is causing a visual problem

Question 5

Nonverbal visual stimuli, such as faces or shapes, are recognized more accurately if they are presented to the

A) left visual field.
B) right visual field.
C) left hemisphere.
D) precise center of the two visual fields.

Question 6

Hemispheric specialization is also known as

A) prosopagnosia.
B) lateralization.
C) hemispheric centrality.
D) location of function.

Question 7

In infants, the left planum temporale is larger than the right, suggesting that

A) humans have an inborn mechanism to navigate in their environment.
B) humans have an inborn neural mechanism for language.
C) much of brain plasticity is hardwired into the brain.
D) laterality decreases as we age.

Question 8

The _______ hemisphere plays a major role in the perception of music. The _______ hemisphere plays a major role in prosody.

A) right; left
B) left; right
C) right; right
D) left; left

Question 9

Which statement about language lateralization in monkeys is true?

A) Similar to humans, monkeys show a preference for using the right ear (which has connects to the contralateral side) to listen to vocalizations of conspecifics.
B) Only chimps (not monkeys) show a preference for using the right ear (which has connects to the contralateral side) to listen to vocalizations of conspecifics.
C) Unlike humans, monkeys show a reverse pattern language lateralization; with a left ear advantage.
D) Unlike humans, monkeys show no preference for using either ear to listen to vocalizations of conspecifics.

Question 10

In the Wada test, a short-acting _______ is injected into the carotid artery first on one side of the brain, then on the other.

A) stimulant
B) anesthetic
C) dye
D) radioactive tracer

Question 11

Which region of cortex is crucial for face recognition?

A) Planum temporale
B) Fusiform gyrus
C) Arcuate fasciculus
D) Angular gyrus

Question 12

A left-ear advantage for verbal sounds can be observed in up to 50% of

A) split-brain patients.
B) individuals with dyslexia.
C) right-handed individuals.
D) left-handed individuals.

Question 13

The relationship between the direction of the whorl of hair on the top of the head and handedness supports the idea that

A) left-handed and right-handed people have different types of hair follicles.
B) using one hand or the other results in neurological changes that cause a whorl to go in a specific direction.
C) a single gene has a major influence on asymmetry throughout the body.
D) a single hormone has a major influence on asymmetry throughout the body.

Question 14

Which symptom would not be a likely result of extensive damage to the right fusiform gyrus?

A) Face blindness
B) Inability to recognize the difference between a wrench and a hammer
C) Impairment in recognizing the voices of coworkers
D) Inability to discriminate between a basketball and a soccer ball

Question 15

Bilateral damage to the fusiform gyrus results in

A) prosopagnosia.
B) astereognosis.
C) epilepsy.
D) dyslexia.

Question 16

Studies using fMRI show that in addition to face recognition, the fusiform region is also activated when identifying

A) inanimate objects that are shaped like faces.
B) objects at close range.
C) individual members of other categories, such as birds or cars, especially if the viewer has relevant expertise in those categories.
D) individual members of other categories, such as birds or cars, especially if the objects or animals are novel.

Question 17

Apraxia is

A) a loss of speech and language.
B) an inability to write.
C) an inability to execute a learned sequence of movements.
D) sensory impairment.

Question 18

Aphasic patients may produce nonsensical or meaningless words called

A) paraphasias.
B) dyslexias.
C) confabulations.
D) neologisms.

Question 19

A patient who has difficulty speaking but has good comprehension of verbal material is most likely suffering from _______ aphasia.

A) Wernicke's
B) Broca's
C) conduction
D) global

Question 20

Patients with _______ are likely to have right-sided weakness or partial paralysis; those with _______ are likely to experience right-sided numbness.

A) Wernicke's aphasia; Broca's aphasia
B) Broca's aphasia; Wernicke's aphasia
C) anomia; apraxia
D) global aphasia; conduction aphasia

Question 21

The complete loss of the ability to understand language, or to speak, read, or write is called _______ aphasia.

A) pragmatic
B) fluent
C) global
D) galactic

Question 22

Damage to the _______, which transmits information between Wernicke's area and Broca's area leads to _______ aphasia.

A) arcuate fasciculus; conduction
B) angular gyrus; fluent
C) motor cortex; nonfluent
D) primary visual cortex; global

Question 23

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) findings

A) support hemispheric specialization of spatial cognition.
B) suggest that micropolygyria does not occur in the brains of children.
C) are inconsistent with the connectionist model of aphasia.
D) offer definitive proof for the neural basis of word blindness.

Question 24

Consistent with the motor theory of speech perception, deaf people who use American Sign Language use _______ language-related regions of the left hemisphere as hearing people who use spoken language do.

A) the same
B) overlapping but different
C) slightly different
D) completely different

Question 25

Early studies using electrodes to stimulate discrete areas of cortex, thereby disrupting neural function, found

A) many new brain regions important in vision.
B) many new brain regions important in auditory processing.
C) that electrical stimulation enhanced language abilities.
D) that electrical stimulation interfered with language abilities.

Question 26

TMS brain mapping has shown that _______ regions of Broca's area are important for _______ processing.

A) posterior; semantic
B) anterior; phonological
C) posterior; phonological
D) anterior; semantic

Question 27

If conscious subjects receive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of anterior portions of Broca's area, they

A) are unable to make gestures with their hands.
B) have difficulty with the patterning of speech sounds.
C) are unable to speak.
D) have difficulty understanding the meanings of words.

Question 28

PET scans of brain activation during progressively more complex language processing tasks showed _______ in Broca's area as compared to activation during simple word repetition or reading aloud.

A) minor activation
B) marked activation
C) decreased activity
D) no activity

Question 29

In ERP studies of normal subjects, it has been found that a grammatically correct sentence containing a word whose meaning does not fit into the sentence provokes a(n) _______ wave from _______ cortex.

A) N400; temporoparietal
B) N400; dorsolateral
C) P600; temporoparietal
D) P600; dorsolateral

Question 30

The sounds that make up a language are called _______, and the system of rules for producing sentences is called _______.

A) linguists; pragmatics
B) dichotics; syntax
C) morphemes; prosody
D) phonemes; grammar

Question 31

Which of the following is correct about the word "unbreakable"?

A) It consists of three phonemes.
B) U is a morpheme.
C) Break is an example of pragmatics.
D) Able is a morpheme.

Question 32

Which statement about the evolution of languages is most accurate?

A) The number of human languages is expanding sharply as global populations increase.
B) The number of human languages is staying remarkably stable in spite of rising global population.
C) Languages are being lost or absorbed as a result of increasing globalization.
D) Many new languages are emerging as a result of increasingly sophisticated communications systems.

Question 33

The human brain shows a clear _______, during which exposure and practice with language must occur in order for language skills to develop normally.

A) syntax phase
B) time delay
C) critical period
D) developmental interlude

Question 34

Speech mechanisms may have evolved from more ancient systems controlling gestures of the face and hands, in agreement with

A) the motor theory of language.
B) the connectionist model of aphasia.
C) observations of split-brain patients.
D) deficits seen in conduction aphasia.

Question 35

Williams syndrome provides evidence for

A) environmental influences on language.
B) the benefits of enrichment programs for children with dyslexia.
C) the heritability of language.
D) the epigenetics of language.

Question 36

In monkeys, stimulation of the _______, but not of the _______, results in vocalizations.

A) cortex; subcortical regions
B) cortex; frontal lobes
C) subcortical regions; cortex
D) cerebellum; frontal lobes

Question 37

Because apes seem able to learn a version of American Sign Language (ASL), some researchers have concluded that they are able to acquire language. Those who disagree, however, offer which criticism of this conclusion?

A) Chimpanzees do not sign accurately enough to prove that they can acquire language.
B) Chimpanzees do not produce novel sequences of signs.
C) Chimpanzees may only be imitating the gestures of trainers.
D) Chimpanzees do not have the fine motor control to fully execute ASL.

Question 38

Birdsong is similar to human speech in that

A) proper expression of the FOXP2 gene appears to be crucial.
B) the right hemisphere has a greater effect on vocal behavior.
C) juveniles do not have to be exposed to vocal adults to develop normal singing behavior.
D) both human and bird communication incorporate prosody.

Question 39

A native English-speaking person with _______ dyslexia would have great difficulty reading the title The Tough Coughs as He Ploughs the Dough.

A) deep
B) surface
C) frontal
D) temporal

Question 40

_______ is an anatomical abnormality of developmental dyslexia that is associated with excessive cortical folding in areas such as the temporoparietal junction.

A) Micropolygyria
B) Tauopathy
C) Ectopia
D) Hemispherectomy

Question 41

Anna has been diagnosed with deep dyslexia. The most obvious symptom she has is

A) a complete inability to read.
B) an inability to read prepositions or any other words that express a relation to other words or phrases within the sentence.
C) an inability to read one of the two languages she has spoken all her life.
D) she interprets a word when reading not as the word on the page but as a semantically related word.

Question 42

A 45-year old individual that played football all his life is showing signs of confusion and memory loss. If you were to examine his brain, what would you expect to find?

A) Abnormal expression of tau
B) Increased cortical folding
C) Increased clusters of neurons in unusual locations
D) Decreased activation of the right planum temporale

Question 43

Which symptom is not one of the forms of brain pathology associated with long-time boxers?

A) Dementia
B) Chronic traumatic encephalopathy
C) Tauopathy
D) Micropolygyria

Question 44

In boxers, the devastating effects of repeated blows to the head are evident in the development of a progressive cognitive impairment called

A) micropolygyria.
B) chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
C) ectopia.
D) hemispherectomy.

Question 45

All the following may aid in stabilization and reorganization after brain damage except

A) the use of stem cells.
B) neurogenesis.
C) reverse transcription.
D) collateral sprouting.

Question 46

An exciting, but controversial future treatment for brain injury may be the use of _______ to replace the damaged neurons in the brain and spinal cord.

A) astereognosis
B) hemispherectomy
C) embryonic stem cells
D) tau protein overexpression

Question 47

The goal of constraint-induced movement therapy is to encourage stroke patients to use the afflicted arm by _______ the unaffected arm.

A) mirroring
B) restraining
C) attachment to
D) forced movement controlled by

Question 48

Mirror therapy has been shown to be useful for rehabilitation after brain injury as it

A) forces the patient to challenge the way the stroke has changed their physical appearance.
B) encourages self-acceptance.
C) tricks the brain into thinking they are moving the paralyzed arm.
D) trains the brain to move only the unaffected limb.

Question 49

In general, brain injury suffered _______ has less severe consequences than brain injury suffered _______.

A) in childhood; in adulthood
B) in adulthood; in childhood
C) during sleep; during wakefulness
D) in women; in men

Question 50

The pathway consisting of hundreds of millions of axons and that connects the left and right brain hemispheres is called the _______.

Question 51

In a dichotic presentation test, if a subject receives conflicting auditory information to both ears, the subject will repeat only the information presented to the _______ ear because information presented to this side reaches the left hemisphere speech systems before information presented to the other side does.

Question 52

When you are looking at a child's colored toy blocks of various shapes, colors, and sizes, the _______ hemisphere of your brain is processing the visual information.

Question 53

People with face-blindness may also suffer from additional forms of _______, such as the inability to recognize bird species.

Question 54

Very large left-hemisphere legions that affect both the anterior and posterior language areas results in _______ aphasia.

Question 55

The grammatical rules for constructing sentences in a given language is called _______.

Question 56

FOXP2 is likely important in development of normal language _______.

Question 57

Speech that is characterized by tripping up on certain syllables, halting speech sounds, and being unable to vocalize certain words is called _______.

Question 58

In general, a person's recovery from brain injury is greater when the injury is the result of _______.

Question 59

In certain situations, damaged neurons can grow regrow their connections via _______.

Question 60

What is the tachistoscope test and how has it contributed to our knowledge of hemispheric specialization?

Question 61

If a picture of an object is projected onto the left visual field of a split-brain individual who is subsequently asked to select the object by touch from an array of objects (without viewing them), would you expect him to be able to identify it? What have experiments (such as this one) on split-brain individuals elucidated?

Question 62

Provide an explanation of the right-ear advantage as demonstrated through dichotic presentation.

Question 63

What is prosopagnosia? Which brain region is damaged in patients with prosopagnosia?

Question 64

What is Broca's aphasia and what are the symptoms? Which brain region is damaged in patients with Broca's aphasia?

Question 65

What is Wernicke's aphasia? Which brain region is damaged in patients with Wernicke's aphasia?

Question 66

How have research findings from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) challenged the connectionist model of aphasia?

Question 67

What is Williams syndrome and how is it related to language research?

Question 68

What are the parallels between birdsong and human speech?

Question 69

Compare and contrast deep dyslexia with surface dyslexia.

Question 70

Why might embryonic stem cells be useful for brain repair after a stroke or injury?

Question 71

Describe the experimental approaches that have been used in the study of hemispheric lateralization of function in humans, and discuss the major findings that have resulted from these studies.

Question 72

Describe dichotic presentation, its underlying theoretical rationale, and the general findings that relate to the study of hemispheric lateralization.

Question 73

Discuss why the planum temporale may play a large role in perception of music.

Question 74

Discuss, with research evidence, how handedness relates to brain asymmetry.

Question 75

Explain the connectionist model of aphasia and compare it with the motor theory of language.

Question 76

Discuss some of the data concerning the organization of language in the brain as revealed by electrical stimulation of the brain in conscious humans.

Question 77

Compare and contrast the symptoms and neuroanatomy of the major categories of aphasia.

Question 78

Discuss the probability that nonhuman primates are capable of learning language, citing the results of different experimental approaches, the conclusions of some researchers, and some key criticisms of these conclusions.

Question 79

Develop a brief essay relating the research findings relevant to the following statement: Functional imaging studies have revealed many details of brain organization for speech and language.

Question 80

Provide an overview of the symptomatology and neuroanatomical correlates of dyslexia.