The activity of the brain while forming words is complex because numerous “articulators” in the vocal tract all need to be coordinated. Edward Chang, MD, and his colleagues recorded electrical activity from the brains of three people undergoing brain surgery. They used this information to determine the organization of the speech sensorimotor cortex; which controls the lips, tongue, jaw, and larynx as we speak. Then, they created a map of which parts of the brain control which parts of the vocal tract.
Their testing concluded that speaking demands well-timed action of different brain regions within the speech sensorimotor cortex.
Nature of Science Themes:
- Science is collaborative - Experiments were performed with a group of medical doctorates
- Science is based on evidence - There is evidence supporting their conclusions
- Science is subject to debate and tentative - There may be more experiments done to contradict the conclusion
- Role of credibility - All people performing the experiment were medical doctorates
- Importance of repeatability - If the results can not be repeated by more people than the original group of experimenters, the conclusions are not fact.
Lauren Mattison, Hour 2
I read an article that talks about how important the Broca region of the brain is to our speech. In this study they researched primates and saw that they had activity in the Broca region but they can’t speak words like we humans can. But humans also have a more developed Broca region that helps us to speak. I believe that it’s not just the sensorimotor cortex that could be help to solve the problems of speech, but also other parts of the brain such as the Broca region and other brain regions that help us speak.
ReplyDeleteThe article I read: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/science/2009/august/Why-Humans-Are-the-Only-Animals-That-Speak.html
According to an article I found, there are multiple regions of the brain that control speech. The primary portion used during conversation is the auditory cortex which is located in the middle of the brain. However, when you read written words, you use the visual cortex located in the back of the brain. The article also states that most people use the left hemisphere of the brain to control speech. This is true in 97% of right handed people. There are two main areas of the left hemisphere associated with speech, the first is the Broca region which has already been talked about. The second is the Wernicke region. People who have damage to this area tend to have trouble recalling the names of people and objects.
ReplyDeleteArticle: http://www.news-medical.net/health/Language-and-the-Human-Brain.aspx
This was a really cool article. However, I also found it a bit confusing, so I did a little bit of background research. I've included a link to an article that explains the basics of how humans are able to talk. I found it helpful. It talks about a lot of different aspects of speech and how they all combine and allow us to form words to vocalize our thoughts and emotions.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129083762