Considering Dysarthria: A Speech Disorder 'On the Margins'
The goal of this paper is to portray dysarthria, a language impairment, as a disorder that is "on the margins" of the category of speech disorders. The argumentation will be that since dysarthria shares common underlying neurological causes with motor diseases rather than with other language impairments, it is set apart from other language impairments and evidence for the overlap of the motor modality with the language modality.
Language is arguably one if not the most complex functions produced by the human brain, and one that is all but transparent as to the underlying neurological structures and processes in that so much is going on at the same time that it is hard to tell what is what. What we do know is that there are different areas of representation for different aspects of language. An area in the left hemisphere above the perisylvian fissure in the frontal lobe anterior to the motor cortex roughly controls production and fluency of speech; another area, in the temporal lobe of the same hemisphere roughly controls comprehension and word retrieval. Other regions next to and between these areas carry related functions, and lesioning to them results in variations of the symptoms caused by lesioning one of the central regions described above(1)..
These areas are known to us as the "language areas." However, they can be completely intact in a person that is suffering from severe language impairment. Are there other "language areas" then? Strictly speaking, no, loosely speaking, yes. Language is more than a mental function where structures are established, words are retrieved and sound associations are made. The final execution of language is purely a question of complex motor control.
Disruption of this complex interaction of motor signals towards the formation of speech is known as dysarthria (2). It is sometimes confused with impairment resulting from injury to the "language areas" (1), illustrating the point that the process of producing language is multi-layered, and that it is often hard to tell what is what.
The symptoms of dysarthria may be slurred speech, nasality of sound, or quiet and slow speech (3).. These different impairments reflect the sub-sections in the 'motor symphony' that produces speech: The lips, tongue, teeth and jaw shape specific sounds; the soft palate channels air into either the nasal or oral cavity, producing different sound qualities; the larynx (voice box) makes the air vibrate through the vocal folds to create voice; and finally, the respiratory system powers this process (3).
Del Testa, David W., Florence Lemoine, and John Strickland. Government Leaders, Military Rulers, and Political Activists. Westport, Conn: Oryx Press, 2001. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed November 10, 2013).
Tiberius was a man of just reasoning and great honor. To have been a son of Tiberius Gracchus the elder, virtue was one of the traits that would pass along with his name. Tiberius married the daughter of the great Scipio who defeated Hannibal. This not only added to his fame, but also provided support. “We are told, moreover, that he once caught a pair of serpents on his bed, and that the soothsayers, after considering the prodigy, forbade him ...
When looking at Jay Gatsby, one sees many different personalities and ideals. There is the gracious host, the ruthless bootlegger, the hopeless romantic, and beneath it all, there is James Gatz of North Dakota. The many faces of Gatsby make a reader question whether they truly know Gatsby as a person. Many people question what exactly made Jay Gatsby so “great.” These different personas, when viewed separately, are quite unremarkable in their own ways. When you take them together, however, you discover the complicated and unique individual that is Jay Gatsby.
Back to the early 1970s, people from CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) felt anxious and threatened when they became aware of American Cultural imperialism had a big influence on Canadian Cultural Identity which made the latter to diminish. To solve this crisis, CRTC adopted Canadian content rules (CanCon) to govern the percentage of the music with Canadian content should be played from radio stations until now. Theoretically, this regulation could cause Canadian talents to rise and support the Canadian music industry. Also for Canadian artists, they would get more opportunities to let the masses to hear their music. However, from my point of view, CanCon works the opposite way. Reasons are as follows.
The neuroanatomical approach to aphasia relies on the localization of lesions on the brain in addition to clinical observation in order to classify patients according to syndromes. For example, according to the neuroanatomical approach, Broca’s aphasia, which us usually associated with a lesions on the posterior inferior frontal gyrus of the brain, has cardinal features that distinguish is from other fluent and non-fluent aphasias (e.g. poor repetition, poor repetition and poor naming with good auditory comprehension).
In the early first century AD, the Roman Empire was subject to autocratic rule and the old Republic was long dead. Augustus had been ruling for forty years and most of that time he was loved and praised by the Senate and the people of Rome. Throughout his reign, Augustus had the one lingering problem of finding a successor to take over the role of Emperor. He had chosen 3 different heirs in his time of rule; however, they all passed before they had the chance to inherit Augustus’ esteemed power. His fourth choice, Tiberius, was the one to succeed Augustus. He was often referred to, by Augustus, as an outstanding general and the only one capable of defending Rome against her enemies. The statement, ‘Tiberius is condemned by many ancient historians (including Tacitus), and his reign is often portrayed as being detrimental to the welfare of the Roman Empire’ is invalid as he treated the senate fairly, created strong economics and security in the state and boosted the empire into an unprecedented state of prosperity. This hypothesis will be proven through this essay by analyzing factors such as Tiberius’ administration of the Empire, his relationship with the senate, his financial control, the effect of Sejanus over his rule and why were his last years as Emperor referred to as a ‘reign of terror’ by Tacitus.
Wernicke’s Aphasia is a communication disorder that affects one’s comprehension, therefore affecting language of both written and spoken language. Wernicke’s Aphasia is also known as fluent aphasia because individuals that have this disorder usually, for the most part, can typically express themselves using syntax and grammar but have a hard time doing it meaningfully through speech. Physiologically, when they speak, they do not realize that their speech is usually grammatically incorrect and lacks meaning behind it. People with this disorder have a hard time with auditory processing, fluently speaking, and poor repetition of what was previously said to them. Anatomically speaking, when one has Wernicke’s Aphasia this typically means that there
There are many mental diseases in the world. In this paper we will be talking about a mental disease called Aphasia. We will explore what Aphasia is. We will find out how someone is diagnosed with Aphasia. We will learn the different types and treatments for this type of mental disease.
Aphasia can be defined as a disorder that is caused by damage to parts of the brain that are responsible for language (“Aphasia” n.p.). Wernicke’s aphasia is a type of fluent aphasia (with the other type being nonfluent). It is named after Carl Wernicke who described the disorder as “an amnesiac disorder characterized by fluent but disordered speech, with a similar disorder in writing, and impaired understanding of oral speech and reading” (“Wernicke’s” n.p.). Wernicke’s aphasia can also be known as sensory aphasia, fluent aphasia, or receptive aphasia. It is a type of aphasia that is caused by damage to Wernicke’s area in the brain, in the posterior part of the temporal lobe of the left hemisphere. This area of the brain contains motor neurons responsible for the understanding of spoken language and is believed to be the receptive language center (“Rogers” n.p.). Wernicke’s aphasia can be most efficiently defined as a fluent language disorder commonly caused by strokes and characterized by difficulty comprehending spoken language and producing meaningful speech and writing which is both assessable by an SLP and treatable by a variety of methods.
This week we went over speech disorders. Aphasia falls under the speech disorders category. There are two types of aphasia: Broca’s and Wernicke’s (Heilman, 2002, p. 11).
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespear. Othello. Dir. Grenblatt, Cohen, Howard, and Eisaman Maus. (second ed.) New York. 2008.
Dyslexia is one of several distinct learning disabilities. It is a specific language based disorder of constitutional origin characterized by difficulties in single word decoding, usually reflecting insufficient phonological processing abilities. These difficulties in single word decoding are often unexpected in relation to age and other cognitive and academic abilities; they are not the result of generalized developmental disability or sensory impairment. Dyslexia is manifest by ...
Shakespeare, William. The First Folio of Shakespeare: The Norton Facsimile. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1968.
Jay Gatsby, aka James Gatz is the subject of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. Through the course of the novel, this enigmatic and powerful character, defined by his preceding reputation is gradually deconstructed and revealed to be a lovesick man, a hopeless romantic. Understanding this statement affirms the actions taken by Gatsby in the course of the story. Unfortunately his actions also lead to the demise of dream and one himself. In the larger spectrum Gatsby is seen as the archetypical self-made man under the microscope, scrutinized by a prod to unveil what’s beneath the layers of gold and green.
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.