Final project for Coursera course - Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life In Progress

1. Final project.
Aphasia.
J.Lučkina
Coursera | Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life

2. Language & Speech
 Language – system of
symbols and signs, uses for
communication.
 Speech – specific human
form of activity, mental
process that uses language.
 Neuropsychology context:
how brain produce
language, both health or
damaged brain conditions.

3. Language & Speech
Discourse
Phonemes
(vowels,
consonants)
Morphemes
(word fragments
combination and
meaning)
Articulation
Semantics –
words, group of
words meaning
Syntax/gramm
ar –
combinations of
words in phrases
and sentences
Prosody -
intonation, tone
of voice;
words/sentence
literal meaning

4. Primary auditory cortex
 Primary auditory cortex (PAC) – temporal lobe,
Heschl’s gyrus, each hemisphere.
 PAC – sound detection and processes area.
 PAC damage – loss of conscious awareness of
sound; hearing loss.
 Auditory association cortex damage: left –
language deficits, speech comprehension and
production disorders; right – non-speech
sounds recognition disturbance, also rhythms
and prosody.
Cochlea Brainstem Thalamus
Primary
auditory
cortex
Heschl’s gyrus

5. L E F T and R I G H T
Ability to speak and to
understand others speech:
letters, grammar, semantics.
Ability to speak and to
understand others speech:
rhythms, intonation,
emotional intention.

6. Broca’s area
 Paul Broca – French physician,
anatomist, anthropologist.
 Broca’s area localization – left frontal
region (with exceptions)
 “speech motor center”
 Speech fluency, grammatical and
syntactical arrangement of words
 Articulation

7. Wernicke’s area
 Carl Wernicke – German physician, anatomist,
neuropathologist.
 Wernicke’s area localization – left temporal lobe
(with exceptions)
 “speech sensory center”
 Phonology of words conversion into an auditory
meaning
 Words meaning and comprehension of
language (self speech or others; also writing and
reading).

8. Language disorders – Aphasia
 Aphasia – language disorder apparent in speech, in writing or
in reading produced by injury to brain areas specializes for
these functions (brain injuries, stroke e.s.).
 Aphasia is NOT an intellectual disorder, or sensory perception
(vision/hearing) disorder, or paralysis of musculature of the
mouth or hand.
 Tree categories of aphasia types:
 Fluent aphasia (receptive aphasia)
 Nonfluent aphasia (expressive aphasia)
 Pure (global) aphasia

10. Fluent aphasias / Wernicke’s Aphasia
 Typically lesion of left posterior temporal regions of the brain
 Impairment of language comprehension ability also with difficulties of language
expression.
 Difficulty in understanding speech
 Fluent speech is less logic and grammatically correct, make less sense, “ word salat”
 Speech contain “ neologisms” (made-up words) or “ paraphasias” (semantically related
words)
 Writing and reading abilities also impaired
 Person may have little or totally not aware about their condition
 Other fluent aphasia types – transcortical sensory aphasia, conduction aphasia, anomic
aphasia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oef68YabD0 – Fluent
aphasia patient

11. Nonfluent aphasias / Broca’s aphasia
 Typically lesion of left inferior frontal gyrus of the brain
 Impairment of language producing ability, total or partial loss of ability to
communicate with speech (varying degrees of severity).
 Problems in finding the words - the words “on the tip of your tongue”
 Articulatory disorder
 Speech is slow, effortful, with pauses between words, word substitutions, difficulties to
repeat words, dysprosody “telegraphic speech”.
 Grammatic errors, wrong word order, a lack of words, “paraphasias”.
 Language comprehension and reading less affected, but person may have difficulties to
understand long, grammatically complex sentence or speech.
 Writing abilities also impaired
 Person typically is aware about their condition and speech errors.
 Other nonfluent aphasia types – transcortical motor aphasia, mixed non-fluent aphasia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWC-cVQmEmY – Nonfluent
aphasia patient

12. Pure (global) aphasia
 Most severe form of aphasia
 All language modalities are impaired – ability to speak un
understand other speech, writing and reading also.
Impairment may be quite selective.
 Lesion include multiple brain centers, maybe both
hemispheres
 Difficulties with all language functions, difficulties to repeat
words, “paraphasias”, poor language comprehension.

13. Primary progressive aphasia
 Not related to brain trauma or stroke
 PPA is caused by neurodegenerative disease, may be first signs
of dementia
 Slow and progressive impairment
 Symptoms depends on which areas of the brain have been
affected – some have fluent speech difficulties, word-finding or
comprehension difficulties.

14. Inspiring ↓

15. How this course has helped me analyze the
events and phenomena around me…
 On my Clinical Psychology studies at the university, I had an amazing
neuropsychology basics, that introduced me the brilliant neurology and
psychology friendship. Now, after course “Neurobiology of everyday life”:
 I’m not only repeated the basics, but I have a deeper understanding of our brain and it
functions, about functions structures and characteristics, and their connections and
communications with each other, and influence to the mental processes.
 It helped me better understand my patients in Neurological rehabilitation where I work
as Clinical Psychologist. Understand, and more accurate and wider make psychological
assessment, so their rehabilitation will be more productive.
 This course also help me better understand myself, my own organism and problems that
I have. No I know why it works that, and generally HOW it works that. I have decided to
make some changes in my life for my better brain work.
 Big thanks for visual and video materials, cats and real experiment that make it more
easier to perceive for me. English is not my native, but It was no problem to understand
the material. (It was cool English training!)

16. Thank You!