PSYC 311 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Muteness, Ideomotor Phenomenon, Embryology

• School: McGill University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 311
• Professor: Michalakis Petrides

Document Summary

Reading #7: the organization of language and the brain (norman geschwind) Language disorders after brain damage help in elucidating the neural basis of verbal behavior. Our knowledge of language has only been studied in man. Some even argue that language is exclusively a human attribute (other animals incapable) Information in this area has come from several sources: tumours = limited value b/c they distort the brain and produce distant effects, penetrating brain wounds = lacks postmortem (autopsy) information. = not the best source of anatomical data. = involves penetration of skull; different missile pathways: stimulation during surgery = time limited at operation. = has not covered full range of phenomena observed clinically: excision of cortical regions = (i. e. milner"s epileptic patients) = represents the largest corpus of truly experimental studies of the higher brain functions in man. = limited to the range of phenomena observed.