Brain and Language

Brain and LanguageLanguage impairment is a serious issue, which may prevent a person from leading a normal life, as well as a full - fledged communication and socialization. Providing effective care to people with language impairment requires profound knowledge of the causes, results and manifestation of the language disorder. However, considering that language impairment is a complex problem, understanding the causes and symptoms of the disorder properly is essential for caregivers. The complexity of speaking and understanding oral and written language lies in the fact that these processes require input and regulation from many parts of the brain. The damage of different parts of brain could lead to loss of some aspects of language, which is called aphasia. The disorder could be triggered by different causes, such as stroke, traumatic head injury, surgery infection or neuroegeneration. As it was mentioned before that speaking requires input from different parts of the brain, there are different kinds and symptoms of the language impairment. Considering that speaking and reading require multiple steps and are not the simple procedures for the brain to conduct, language impairment may take on the different forms. Thus, Broca’s aphasia, also known as expressive aphasia, is characterized by major language disturbance. However, people with expressive aphasia usually demonstrate the normal language comprehension, as well as they could communicate with gestures. The patients with expressive aphasia do not usually have impairment of oral motor abilities or cognitive impairment. The disorder is could be caused by damage of such brain regions, as left hemisphere and frontal lobe. In comparison, Wernicke’s aphasia, also known as receptive, fluent or sensory aphasia, is characterized by poor comprehension of oral and written speech. However, people with receptive aphasia can speak properly and with normal fluency. Such disorder is usually caused by the damage in the posterior part of left temporal zone. Therefore, speaking is a complex process, which is reflected in the different parts of the brain. Thus, the damage of frontal lobe is more likely to cause the impairment of oral speech, while the injury of left temporal zone usually triggers the inability to understand oral and written speech. Gerlach in the article “Category-specificity in visual object recognition” reveals the study of the perception of objects by people with brain damages. The author argues that objects are not recognized in the same manner visually (Gerlach, 2009). Thus, some people with brain damages can better recognize natural objects, while others – artefacts. The author describes a pre-semantic account of category-effects (PACE) in people with brain damages. The PACE comprises of two major stages - shape configuration and selection. According to Gerlach, the ability to recognize objects is affected by different factors, such as the degree of perceptual differentiation , stimulus characteristics, stimulus presentation, and finally interactions between factors. As the result, the damages of different parts of the brains can lead to difference in object recognition. Considering the difference in causes and symptoms of the language disorder, the caregiver is to develop caring plan, which …