Brain/anatomy
This massive bundle of tracts physically connects Wernicke's Area to Broca's Area
What is the arcuate fasciculus?
This "reward" neurotransmitter keeps a child's brain highly motivated to repeat language patterns and phrases.
What is dopamine?
The name of the isolated child in the famous historical case study, rescued in 1970 at age 13, who could learn vocabulary but never fully acquired complex grammar, proving that language acquisition drops dramatically after puberty.
Who is Genie?
Damage or aphasia to this specific area of the brain results in a profound difficulty with motor speech production, even if the individual can completely understand language.
What is Broca's area?
This is the brain’s natural process of eliminating weak or unused neural pathways while strengthening the frequently used ones for specific native languages.
What is synaptic pruning?
Known as the "Language Gene," this specific transcription factor controls speech development, and mutations in it cause severe difficulties coordinating the mouth movements needed for talking.
What is FOXP2?
This neurotrophin, whose expression is promoted by rich language exposure, binds to TrkB receptors to encourage neuron survival, dendrite branching, and synapse maturation in the brain's language centers.
What is BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor)?
During long-term potentiation, cellular depolarization removes this specific ion block from NMDA receptors, allowing calcium ions to flood into the post-synaptic cell.
What is a magnesium block?
This molecular "brake" protein binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors as puberty hits, dampening the high levels of synaptic plasticity required to effortlessly master native accents.
What is the Lynx1 protein?