3.6. Neuropsychology
3.6. Neuropsychology
Bachelor-3 Psychology
Summary written by Amy van Wingerde
________________________________________________________________
1
,3.6. Neuropsychology
Theme 2
Sources
General
Kolb et al. (2015) – Chapter 19
Traumatic brain injury
Zumbansen et al. (2014), Naeser et al. (2005)
Amnesia
Kolb et al. (2015) – Chapter 18
Not connected
Helmstaedter (2013)
Stroke
Kolb et al. (2015) – Chapter 15
General
Kolb et al. (2015) – Chapter 19. Language
- Much of our daily lives depends on the ability to talk, listen, and read.
What is language?
- Language is derived from an Anglo-French word ‘langue’, the word for tongue, referring to a
convention that describes language as a use of sound combinations for communication.
- Language is also guided by rules that, when translated into other sensory modalities, allow
for equivalent communication through gestures, touches, and visual images.
- No other species as humans use language as humans do, so no universal agreement
emerged on what language is.
Language structure
- Linguists break language down as follows:
2
, 3.6. Neuropsychology
- This linguistic discussion emphasizes the acoustical nature of basic language components,
but analogs exist in the visual nature of reading, the touch language of Braille, and in the
movement language of signing.
- Criterion linguists use to recognize language:
- Presence of words and word components.
- Use of syllables made up of consonants and vowels; our mouths are capable of
producing consonants (medeklinkers) and combining them with vowels (klinkers) to
produce syllables (lettergrepen).
- Nonhuman species do not produce syllables, primarily because they do not produce
consonants.
Producing sound
- Basic anatomy that enables humans to produce sound consists of two sets of parts, one set
acting as the sound source and the other as filters.
- Air exhaled from the lungs drives oscillations of the vocal cords (vocal folds, stembanden),
folds of mucous membrane attached to the vocal muscles, located in the larynx (voice box,
strottenhoofd), the organ of voice.
- Rate of vocal-fold oscillation determines the pitch (low or high frequency) of the sound
produced.
- Acoustical energy generated then passes through the vocal tract (pharyngeal, oral, and nasal
cavities) and finally out through the nostrils and lips.
- As energy passes through the vocal tract, it structures group sound waves specific to each
vowel sound, called formants.
- Filtering plays a crucial role in speech, the length and shape of the vocal tract
determine formant characteristics, which are modified rapidly during speech by the
movements of the articulators (tongue, lips, soft palate).
- Descent of the human larynx is a key evolutionary and developmental innovation in speech.
- Human oral cavity is longer and human larynx is lower in the throat than apes.
3
3.6. Neuropsychology
Bachelor-3 Psychology
Summary written by Amy van Wingerde
________________________________________________________________
1
,3.6. Neuropsychology
Theme 2
Sources
General
Kolb et al. (2015) – Chapter 19
Traumatic brain injury
Zumbansen et al. (2014), Naeser et al. (2005)
Amnesia
Kolb et al. (2015) – Chapter 18
Not connected
Helmstaedter (2013)
Stroke
Kolb et al. (2015) – Chapter 15
General
Kolb et al. (2015) – Chapter 19. Language
- Much of our daily lives depends on the ability to talk, listen, and read.
What is language?
- Language is derived from an Anglo-French word ‘langue’, the word for tongue, referring to a
convention that describes language as a use of sound combinations for communication.
- Language is also guided by rules that, when translated into other sensory modalities, allow
for equivalent communication through gestures, touches, and visual images.
- No other species as humans use language as humans do, so no universal agreement
emerged on what language is.
Language structure
- Linguists break language down as follows:
2
, 3.6. Neuropsychology
- This linguistic discussion emphasizes the acoustical nature of basic language components,
but analogs exist in the visual nature of reading, the touch language of Braille, and in the
movement language of signing.
- Criterion linguists use to recognize language:
- Presence of words and word components.
- Use of syllables made up of consonants and vowels; our mouths are capable of
producing consonants (medeklinkers) and combining them with vowels (klinkers) to
produce syllables (lettergrepen).
- Nonhuman species do not produce syllables, primarily because they do not produce
consonants.
Producing sound
- Basic anatomy that enables humans to produce sound consists of two sets of parts, one set
acting as the sound source and the other as filters.
- Air exhaled from the lungs drives oscillations of the vocal cords (vocal folds, stembanden),
folds of mucous membrane attached to the vocal muscles, located in the larynx (voice box,
strottenhoofd), the organ of voice.
- Rate of vocal-fold oscillation determines the pitch (low or high frequency) of the sound
produced.
- Acoustical energy generated then passes through the vocal tract (pharyngeal, oral, and nasal
cavities) and finally out through the nostrils and lips.
- As energy passes through the vocal tract, it structures group sound waves specific to each
vowel sound, called formants.
- Filtering plays a crucial role in speech, the length and shape of the vocal tract
determine formant characteristics, which are modified rapidly during speech by the
movements of the articulators (tongue, lips, soft palate).
- Descent of the human larynx is a key evolutionary and developmental innovation in speech.
- Human oral cavity is longer and human larynx is lower in the throat than apes.
3
