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Analysis Of Broca 's Aphasia, A Language And The Brain

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PURPOSE The purpose of this paper is to pursue one important and fundamental aim: language and the brain are purely inseparable since it allows us to perform essential tasks such as generating, comprehending and expressing speech. With damage to the brain, individuals can no longer perform such tasks which can ultimately lead to many types of language disorders. The focus of this paper is Broca’s aphasia, a language disorder characterized by the inability to produce written and spoken speech. Damage to the brain can cause many types of speech impairments as well as comprehension deficits. INTRODUCTION The ability of humans to speak and understand language is made possible by one of the most complex and vital organs in the human body, the …show more content…

When the particular information processes in the brain fails and causes Broca’s aphasia, a chain reaction occurs consequently leading to various speech disorders. As for the individual’s comprehension, it has been long believed to remain unaffected although studies are beginning to prove otherwise. DAMAGE IN THE BRAIN As Thompson states, “A sufferer of Broca 's aphasia may understand completely the sentences of others. However, he may not be able to speak at all, or may speak in sentences that are hard to understand” (Thompson, 2013). Toivonen, a professor at Carleton University, discussed the significance of information flow in the brain using the example of reading out loud. This example illustrates the phenomenon that when an area of the information pathway is damaged, correspondingly, the message-relay can become interrupted. First and for most, the process of articulating begins with the Wernicke’s area of the brain activating when an individual accesses and interprets the lexicon, their mental dictionary. From there, the arcuate fascicles, a bundle of nerve fibres, transmits information sent from the Wernicke’s area to the Broca’s area. The Broca’s area then interprets this information and transmits articulatory information to the motor cortex. Finally, the motor cortex directs movement of the muscles to produce and pronounce speech. (Toivonen,

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