.png)
LU1 Q&A
Introduction to Cognitive Science
What is Wernicke's Area?
Wernicke's area was first described by Carl Wernicke (German Neurologist) in 1874 while Broca's area was described by Paul Broca. Usually, Wernicke's area is found on the left side and this area was surrounded by the auditory cortex on the lateral sulcus (sulci); a shallower groove that surrounds a gyrus (gyri). The lateral sulcus divides both the frontal lobe and parietal lobe above from the temporal lobe below. It is both hemispheres of the brain.  Through this, we can know that Wernicke's area is responsible for the comprehension of written and spoken language. Damage to this area may cause receptive aphasia which people who faced this unable to comprehend or express written and spoken language. There are several aspects we can see regarding receptive aphasia's patients which are patients who can speak well but their words have no meaning. Secondly, the patient auditory incomprehension where they could not understand what is being spoken to them. Lastly, they are unaware of their lack of comprehension. Wernicke's area is common damage due to Vitamin B1 (Thiamine deficiency) resulting in Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. There are symptoms of Wernicke syndrome which is encephalopathy such as inattentiveness and profound disorientation to person, time and place. Next, horizontal nystagmus can cause vertical nystagmus on a patient while ataxia's patient may experience cerebellar involvement and polyneuropathy. Korsakoff syndrome is more chronic as it can cause memory loss, hallucination and personality changes. Since Wernicke's area is located in Brodmann area 22, damage to this area indirectly aggravates the superior temporal gyrus, stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) (Javed et al., 2021).
Why is the topic 'nature vs nurture' is still a hot topic of debate?
This issue has appeared in many ideas ranging from extreme nativist or empiricist approaches, researchers and experts that still debate to a degree which biology and environment influence behaviour. Nature refers to all of the genes and genetic factors that influence who we are while nurture is the environmental variable that impact who we are such as childhood experiences, our social relationship and surrounding culture. According to Plato and Descartes, genetic traits handed down from parents influence the individual differences that make each person unique. Â Other than that, John Locke, a well-known thinker said that he believed in what tabula rasa is known as Blank Slate; a belief that at birth, all humans are born with the ability to become anything or anyone resulting in effects of genes and biology on the development of the human personality. Generally, nature or biologically determined characteristics include genetic disease, eye colour, hair colour, skin colour while height is influenced by environmental factors and lifestyles. However, according to Kevin Davies of PBS's Nova (2001), we are influenced by nature and nurture interaction. For instance, in a family where everyone is tall indirectly their child becomes tall too because he may have inherited these genes for height. Nature and nurture interact in important ways throughout life.
How does the injury Phineas Gage sustained cause him to have a major personality change?
Phineas Gage is known as one of the most famous neuroscience patients, after an accidental explosion left a rod to pass through his skull. It is said that after the accident, he underwent a large change in his personality. Many of Gage’s friends and family said that he went from a well-mannered, soft-spoken man to someone who would use profanity often and is very impatient (Harlow, 1868, as cited by Guy-Evans, 2020). The rod has damaged the prefrontal cortex of his brain, which is responsible for decision making and emotions (Damasio et al., 1994). Hence, Gage's personality has also changed.