science

Sign language in the brain

Sign language in the brain is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sign language in the brain rather than just read about it. In short: Sign language refers to any natural language which uses visual gestures produced by the hands and body language to express meaning. The brain's left side is the dominant side utilized for producing and understanding sign language, just as it is for speech.

Key takeaways

Sign language in the brain belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sign language in the brain to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sign language in the brain from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Sign language refers to any natural language which uses visual gestures produced by the hands and body language to express meaning. The brain's left side is the dominant side utilized for producing and understanding sign language, just as it is for speech. In 1861, Paul Broca studied patients with the ability to understand spoken languages but the inability to produce them. The damaged area was named Broca's area, and located in the left hemisphere’s inferior frontal gyrus (Brodmann areas 44, 45). Soon after, in 1874, Carl Wernicke studied patients with the reverse deficits: patients could produce spoken language, but could not comprehend it. The damaged area was named Wernicke's area, and is located in the left hemisphere’s posterior superior temporal gyrus (Brodmann area 22). Signers with damage in Broca's area have problems producing signs. Those with damage in the Wernicke's area (left hemisphere) in the temporal lobe of the brain have problems comprehending signed languages. Early on, it was noted that Broca’s area was near the part of the motor cortex controlling the face and mouth. Likewise, Wernicke's area was near the auditory cortex. These motor and auditory areas are important in spoken language processing and production, but the connection to signed languages had yet to be uncovered. For this reason, the left hemisphere was described as the verbal hemisphere, with the right hemisphere deemed to be responsible for spatial tasks. This criterion and classification was used to denounce signed languages as not equal to spoken language until it was widely agreed upon that due to the similarities in cortical connectivity they are linguistically and cognitively equivalent. In the 1980s research on deaf patients with left hemisphere stroke were examined to explore the brains connection with signed languages. The left perisylvian region was discovered to be functionally critical for language, spoken and signed. Its location near several key auditory processing regions led to the belief that language processing required auditory input and was used to discredit signed languages as "real languages." This research opened the doorway for linguistic analysis and further research on signed languages. Signed languages, like spoken languages, are highly structured linguistic systems; they have their own sets of phonological, morphological and syntactic characteristics. Despite some differences between spoken and signed languages, the associated brain areas share a lot in common.

How the brain processes auditory information One main structure for hearing is the cochlea, a tiny coiled structure within the ear (shown in Figure 2). This is one of several structures that can be damaged to cause hearing loss. When sound waves enter the ear, they cause a vibration of the eardrum. This vibration causes the ossicles of the ear to move, causing a depression of the oval window. This depression causes waves in the fluid of the cochlea which initiates movement of the basilar membrane. Different sections of the basilar membrane are responsible for responding to different types of sound, with that specific sound’s wave reaching a peak at the responsible part of the basilar membrane. This process is what transforms the sound into neural activity via hair cell receptors. These receptors have stereocilia that cause a release of neurotransmitter onto the vestibulocochlear nerve when moved. The vestibulocochlear nerve synapses in superior medulla using cochlear nuclei. This is considered the beginning of the ascending auditory pathway (shown in Figure 1). The cochlear nuclei then send information to the superior olivary nucleus to initiate the brain’s process of interpreting and combining information. The brain is able to localize sound by understanding the differences in sounds’ timing and intensities in each ear. This information continues on to the inferior colliculus, which is important for the integration of a majority of ascending auditory information. The inferior colliculus sends this information to the medial geniculate nucleus within the thalamus. The thalamus finally projects the information received to the auditory cortex, which is housed in the temporal lobe.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sign language in the brain

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sign language in the brain claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sign language in the brain before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sign language in the brain ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sign language in the brain

In research: Sign language in the brain appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sign language in the brain in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sign language in the brain is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Psycholinguistics, Sign language, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sign language in the brain outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sign language in the brain in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sign language in the brain means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sign language in the brain out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sign language in the brain in simple terms?

Why does Sign language in the brain matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sign language in the brain?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sign language in the brain.