BROCA’S AREA

reference list is here:  http://workspacestopthestorm.wordpress.com/references-main-file/

3/31/2007

“…fast processing of speech takes place in Broca’s area of the left hemisphere, rather than in Wernicke’s area behind the ear, which is typically assumed to be the auditory region of the brain.  Since Broca’s area is usually though of as the controller of (Ratey/ug/96) the motor cortex (controlling the tongue and voice box), and not the receptor area, these results suggest that speech has a great deal to do with the movement regions of the brain.  (Ratey/ug/97)”  cc cortex –

“The interdependence of both hemispheres is particularly evident in the processing of music.  The left side is better at targeting the succession of sounds – the rhythm….Broca’s area was activated when subjects listened to well-known pieces of music…this area may involve the recognition of all familiar sounds, not just speech.  Changes in the rhythm of the unfamiliar pieces also activated this area.  The only musical quality that predominantly activated the right hemisphere was the quality of the sound itself – the timbre….music appreciation is amazingly complicated, involving memory, the recognition of sequences of musical components, and the coordination of specialized regions of the brain.  “…fast processing of speech takes place in Broca’s area of the left hemisphere, rather than in Wernicke’s area behind the ear, which is typically assumed to be the auditory region of the brain.  Since Broca’s area is usually though of as the controller of (Ratey/ug/96) the motor cortex (controlling the tongue and voice box), and not the receptor area, these results suggest that speech has a great deal to do with the movement regions of the brain.  (Ratey/ug/97)”

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“Language is fundamental to the development of sophisticated memories.  In millennia gone by, our

capacity for naming became possible only when the brain developed connections between higher-order motor and sensory areas

such as the Broca and Wernicke areas, (Ratey/ug/207) respectively, and the CEO in the frontal cortex lying in front of Broca’s area.  In this way we evolved a working memory system for naming that later led to the miracle of language.  (Ratey/ug/208)”

How is this different from primates who can talk?

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“Our recent positron emission tomography (PET) scan study of people with PTSD (Rauch et al., in press) showed that when people with PTSD are exposed to stimuli reminiscent of their trauma, there is an increase in perfusion of the areas in the right hemisphere associated with emotional states and autonomic arousal.  Moreover, there is a simultaneous decrease in oxygen utilization in Broca’s area – the region in the left inferior frontal cortex responsible for generating words to attach to internal experience.  These findings may account for the observation that trauma may lead to “speechless terror,” which in some individuals interferes with the ability to put feelings into words, leaving emotions to be mutely expressed by dysfunction of the body. (van der Kolk/CAT/193)” cc to brain parts file

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