Linguistic Development Research Paper Page 13
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374 WHAT IS IT THAT DEVELOPS?
13
Teeth
Lips
These are really just the tip of the iceberg when speech is involved. There are many muscles in the
tongue, which are able to move it in all directions. The control of the tongue requires the control of
all of its constituents. The same is also true for the rest of the anatomy involved.
Such control is an awesome task, and has been the downfall of many artificial Intelligence projects.
The fine motor control of the speech apparatus is performed by the cerebellum. Arising dorsally
from the brain-stem, the cerebellum is responsible for the maintenance of body posture and the
smooth coordination of all movements, including walking and speaking.
The Basal Ganglia, which are buried deep within the hemispheres, are also involved in coordination,
as well as the motor cortex which is situated immediately anterior to the Rolandic Fissure.
The regions located in the region around the junction of parietal, frontal and temporal lobes are
proposed for language skills. As described above in section 4.1.1 there are many complicated feedback
mechanisms that are integral to the production of speech. Unless the brain knows where all of the
speech organs are located and how they are moving, then it has great difficulty producing speech.
The brain uses a cybernetic feedback mechanism to control speech. Studies have shown that if the
feedback process is interfered with, the subject will begin to produce, slurred speech, stuttering and
will eventually stop speaking at all.
Too much reference to Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas can lead the reader to think that that is all
there is to the language comprehension and production processes. In fact there are many areas of the
brain which are involved in language. The Thalamus and the Hippocampus are strongly involved.
The thalamus relays and helps to analyze sensory information, while the hippocampus is involve in
the control of memory. Without a perceptual system and a memory there would not be any chance
of speech developing.
It can be shown that lesions to the left hemisphere produce:
Disorders of reading and writing
Loss of verbal memory
Defects in left right orientation
Oversimplification and lack of detail in drawings
Inability to perform certain kinds of movements
Lesions to the right hemisphere produce disorders in:
Spatial orientation
Facial recognition
Certain emotional responses
Grossly distorted drawing
Although these observations seem to indicate that there is significant differences between the hemi-
spheres, it has been found in recent years that there is less of a correlation between language
dominance and handedness than was originally thought.
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