AP PSYCHOLOGY

BIOLOGICAL BASES OF BEHAVIOR

THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
For most people, language functions are in the
A
Brain’s Left Hemisphere
B
Brain’s Right Hemisphere
C
Longitudinal Fissure
D
Brainstem
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Language functions such as grammar, vocabulary and literal meaning are typically lateralized to the left hemisphere, especially in right-handed individuals. While language production is left-lateralized in up to 90% of right-handers, it is more bilateral, or even right-lateralized, in approximately 50% of left-handers.

Detailed explanation-2: -Language is considered to be one of the most lateralized human brain functions. Left hemisphere dominance for language has been consistently confirmed in clinical and experimental settings and constitutes one of the main axioms of neurology and neuroscience.

Detailed explanation-3: -For more than a century, it’s been established that our capacity to use language is usually located in the left hemisphere of the brain, specifically in two areas: Broca’s area (associated with speech production and articulation) and Wernicke’s area (associated with comprehension).

Detailed explanation-4: -Left hemisphere language dominance The reason: language that is perceived via the right ear is processed in the left hemisphere. When brainwaves are measured using EEG, it emerges that the left hemisphere processes auditory speech information more rapidly.

Detailed explanation-5: -Although the left hemisphere has been most often implicated in language, the right hemisphere has a role in prosody or interpreting the meaning of words by the way in which they are stated (Bryden and Ley, 1983).

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