language and the Brain

Prince Sattam ibn Abdulaziz University Saudi Arabia

 The brain is:
› Mass of gray and white matter” in our heads “serving to
control and coordinate mental and physical actions
 Mind is:
› the activity of the brain, person’s thought process.
 In this class we are going to study the relation between the
brain and the language.
 We will deal with both language production and
comprehension.
Abdulaziz Assanosi, azizsanosi@gmail.com

 Language is system of communication consists of a set of
sounds, grammar, or written symbol.
 The relation between this set and the concepts is arbitrary.
 Both the concepts and the unit stands for them are arbitrary.
 Knowing language is to know the arbitrary relation and be
able to code and encode symbols according to it.

‫أخضر‬‫أبيض‬ ‫برتقالي‬
‫أخضر‬‫أسود‬ ‫بنفسجي‬
‫أصفر‬‫أزرق‬ ‫أحمر‬
‫برتقالي‬‫زهري‬ ‫أبيض‬
Say the color of each one
of he following shapes

 In the last game there is a struggle between CONCEPTS
and language.
 Your brain try to express the concepts, the other part try to
express the language.
 The difficulty is because there are more than one context or
clue to enable you to express

Find the six
hidden words

 What happen here is that there is no clear clue for making
concepts.
 Whenever there is a clue it is easier.
 The relationship between language and the brain depend on
this arbitrary relation between concepts and system of
symbols and sound and grammar.

 Most people used their right hand, foot, ear to hold things,
kick them or to listen carefully.
 About 10 % of world population use their left side of their
body.
 This is genetic, and it cannot be changed in childhood.
 The reason for being left or right handed lies in the brain.

 The brain is divided into two vertical halves.
 They seem like mirror images of one another.
 Each part is called hemisphere.
 The two hemisphere are connected with bundle of nerves
called corpus callosum..
 There is a covering in each hemisphere called the cortex.

• Divided into two
hemispheres: the left and
right hemispheres
• The hemispheres are
connected by bundle of
nerve fibers: the corpus
callosum
Left
hemi
Right
hemi
Front
Corpus
callosum

• Contralateral control:
Each hemisphere
controls opposite side of
body
• Left hemisphere
controls right side of
body
• Right hemisphere
controls left side of body

 Close one eye.
 Kick the leg of the chair.
 Hold on of your ears.
 Write your name with your left hand
 Which eye do you close?
 Which foot do you use to kick the chair leg?
 Which hand do you use to hold your ear?
 Which ear do you hold?
 Did you write your name successfully?Abdulaziz Assanosi, azizsanosi@gmail.com

 Although the labour of the brain is divided between the two
hemispheres, normally one of the hemispheres have more
function than the other.
 This is called the hemispheric dominance.
 Usually the left hemisphere (which is responsible for lang.)
dominate the right one and do more tasks.
 Most human use their right hands and right side of the body.
This means that their left hemisphere dominate their right
one.

 Some left handers are right hemispheric, (not necessary).
 Left handers who are right hemispheric have language
problems, because of the struggle between the two
hemispheres.
 Worldwide male left handers are more than females ones.
 Attempts to change left handers children practice to be right
handers may cause problems.

Blackboard video #1

 Speech sound are processed in the left hemisphere.
 Other (non-speech) sound are processed in the right
hemisphere.
 The opposite is true for most left handers.
 For this, right handers perceive speech sound through their right
ear.
 These facts were proved by using dichotic listening test.
 When you listen through a barrier, e.g. a closed door, you lean
your right ear (if you are right hander).

 Each hemisphere of the brain has special
functions to do.
 This separation of functions is called
lateralization.
 Language functions for 99% of right handers
are located in the left hemisphere.
 It deals with language production,
comprehension, encoding and decoding.

 Left hemisphere:
› Analytical processing (analyzing information)
› Language, speech sounds
› Details
› Mathematics
› Temporal relations
› Intellectual reasoning

•Right hemisphere:
• Holistic processing (recognizing overall
patterns, e.g., face recognition)
• Non-speech sounds
• Music (in musically naïve individuals)
• Visual-spatial skills
• Emotional reactions

 Speech production is generated in Wernicke’s area and sent
for Broca’s area for encoding.
 Speech comprehension is received by the cortex near the
ear and moved to the Wernicke’s area.
 Any defect on one of the areas will affect the linguistic ability
of the patient.
 Language disorder (aphasias) are the results of the brain
damage

 There are many areas identified as involved in the production
and comprehension of language.
 The front part of the brain is involved in auditory function of
language.
 The area next to the front is involved in the motor tasks of
language (writing and speaking).

 These areas are important in language production.
 They are located on the left (or the dominant) hemisphere of the
brain.
 The upper part of the front area of the brain is called Broca’s
area. It is responsible for speech production.
 The lower back part of the brain is Wernicke area called is
responsible for speech comprehension.
 Both of the areas are connected with a bundle of nerve fibres.
 Both of the them share all functions of language production and
comprehension.

 Named after the French pathologist and neurosurgeon Pierre
Paul Broca (1824 – 80) who discover the area.
 He discovered that this area (in the front part of the brain)
which is involved in the production of speech.
 He discovered another motor area which control the muscle
of articulators and lies next to Broca’s area and connected to
it.
 The process of speech start in Broca’s area then transferred
to motor area to control speech production.


 Named after the German neurologist Carl Wernick (1848 – 1905).
 He discovered this area to the back of the brain which is involved
in speech comprehension.
 It is connected to Broca’s area by a bundle of nerves, that explain
why the processes of speech comprehension and production are
interrelated. According to Wernicke, the sound goes from ear to
the auditory area then to Wernicke’s area.
 Wernick’s area is also involved in reading. The question is
whether it is important for someone to access the sound of the
word so as to understand its meaning?

 There are other areas in the brain also contribute to language
knowledge and use.
 These areas are include in paralinguistic and social aspects of
language (whispering, singing, reciting poetry, supplication ….etc.
 Right hemisphere is involved in understanding discourse and
complete units, and putting ideas together into one unit.
 Patients with problem in the right hemisphere have structuring
problem, disturbing speech and jumping form one topic to
another.

 For the learning of second language, one needs to operate
his/her right hemisphere.
 Many research studies find right hemisphere involvement in the
acquisition and use of right hemisphere of the brain.
 Taking courses in using both hemispheres of the brain can be
useful for Second Language Learning.
 Studies about lateralization of the brain are still going on and
many fact are unfolded yet.
 Knowing about language and the brain can help in knowing much
about language disorder.

 This presentation is for classroom usage, it contained gaps
to be filled by classroom discussion for more detailed
information consult the reference book:
 An introduction to Psycholinguistics, second edition
(2006)Danny Steinberg and Natalia, Sciarini.
 The multimedia file embedded in this presentation are
available in Blackboard. You can download them from there if
they fail to launch in your computer.

language and the Brain

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