Re-examining Paul Broca’s initial presentation of M. Leborgne: Understanding the impetus for brain and language research

Lorch, Marjorie Perlman

doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2011.06.022

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Since Paul Broca’s pioneering studies of disfluent aphasias in the 1860s, neuroscientists have appreciated that different cortical areas are specialized for processing particular types of information (Broca, 1861a; b; Lorch, 2011). Coordination between functionally specialized cortical areas through long-range connections is critical for guiding complex cognitive behaviors, and the disruption of such coordination had been implicated in a number of neurological disorders, which have been collectively referred to as “disconnection syndromes” – a theory developed by neurologist Norman Geschwind that linked seemingly distinct neurological disorders (Geschwind, 1965b; a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What does scalp electroencephalogram coherence tell us about long‐range cortical networks?

Snyder

Issar

2018

Eur J of Neuroscience

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Long-range interactions between cortical areas are undoubtedly a key to the computational power of the brain. For healthy human subjects, the premier method for measuring brain activity on fast timescales is electroencephalography (EEG), and coherence between EEG signals is often used to assay functional connectivity between different brain regions. However, the nature of the underlying brain activity that is reflected in EEG coherence is currently the realm of speculation, because seldom have EEG signals been recorded simultaneously with intracranial recordings near cell bodies in multiple brain areas. Here, we take the early steps towards narrowing this gap in our understanding of EEG coherence by measuring local field potentials with microelectrode arrays in two brain areas (extrastriate visual area V4 and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) simultaneously with EEG at the nearby scalp in rhesus macaque monkeys. Although we found inter-area coherence at both scales of measurement, we did not find that scalp-level coherence was reliably related to coherence between brain areas measured intracranially on a trial-to-trial basis, despite that scalp-level EEG was related to other important features of neural oscillations, such as trial-to-trial variability in overall amplitudes. This suggests that caution must be exercised when interpreting EEG coherence effects, and new theories devised about what aspects of neural activity long-range coherence in the EEG reflects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What does scalp electroencephalogram coherence tell us about long‐range cortical networks?

Snyder

Issar

2018

Eur J of Neuroscience

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“…Like Paul Broca (1824Broca ( -1880, who earlier had demonstrated that speech articulation resided in the frontal lobe (Broca, 1861(Broca, , 1865Lorch, 2011), Wernicke (1885Wernicke ( /1994 later located the interpretation of speech in the parietal region in the superior temporal gyrus (what became known as Wernicke's area). Thus, lesions in Broca's area impaired speech fluency but not comprehension, while lesions in Wernicke's or association areas resulted in "sensory aphasia," which impaired speech comprehension but not fluency (for a comprehensive overview of the history of aphasias, see Finger, 1994, pp.…”

Section: Wernicke and Disconnection Syndromesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Norman Geschwind and the Use of History in the (Re)Birth of Behavioral Neurology

Kushner

2014

Journal of the History of the Neurosciences

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When Norman Geschwind (1926-1984) attended medical school in the 1940s, his psychiatry professors taught as if behavior were unrelated to neuropathology. The focus of neurology remained the diagnosis and treatment of aphasias and epilepsies, while cognitive impairments and developmental disorders were classified as functional (psychological) disorders. Geschwind was troubled by the fact that many of the patients he saw with neurological deficits also presented with behavioral (developmental) disorders. Geschwind's generation also had been taught that aphasias resulted from global rather than localized or focal neurological lesions. These holists, including the prepsychoanalytic Sigmund Freud, targeted the work of aphasiologist Carl Wernicke as an exemplar of the flaws of the localizationist hypothesis. Reading Wernicke in the original, Geschwind discovered a complex and multilayered explanation for aphasias that implicated lesions located in association pathways that, when extensive, resulted in behavioral disorders. Geschwind also reread the works of the holists, discovering that, while their rhetoric rejected Wernicke, their explanations of aphasias actually reinforced Wernicke's hypothesis. Building on his reading of these historical documents and his clinical experiences, Geschwind urged the resurrection of Wernicke's disconnection syndromes that Geschwind labeled as Behavioral Neurology.

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“…Paul Broca’s (1824–1880) interpretation of the autopsy findings of Louis Victor Lebornge (Broca, 1861) established the clinico-pathological method which remains fundamental to neuropsychology (Lorch, 2011). This case was widely used as evidence for the theory that acquired disorders of language production were related to the existence of damage to a limited region of the frontal cortex.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Long View of Language Localization

Lorch

2019

Front. Neuroanat.

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For British neurologists, one case was considered to represent significant evidence regarding the organization of language in the brain in the second half of the 19th century. The interpretation of its significance was based on repeated standard clinical assessment of behavioral deficits, the use of a psychological model of processing, and lesion localization to inform understanding of clinic-pathological correlation. The aphasic deficits experienced by a single case were observed and recorded by London neurologist Henry Charlton Bastian (1837–1915) over a period of 18 years and used as a demonstration of clinico-pathological reasoning regarding language function. This case was well documented in many of Bastian’s publications; presented in teaching demonstrations; included in discussions at medical society meetings and public lectures; and reported widely in the medical press. When this patient died, the autopsy findings were added to the extensive record of his language deficits. Some aspects of the size and site of the lesion were consistent with Bastian’s clinical predictions arising from his model of language processing, while others presented more of a paradox. This single case was a significant source of discussion and reflection in the medical community throughout the second half of the 19th century. Examination of various interpretations of this case reveal the assumptions regarding the functional architecture of language processing and more general theoretical considerations of how evidence from cases of acquired neurogenic aphasia can be employed in developing such models. This long view into a historical case sheds light on the challenges of clinic-pathological correlation methods in the understanding of localization of language functions which remain today.

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Re-examining Paul Broca’s initial presentation of M. Leborgne: Understanding the impetus for brain and language research

Cited by 19 publications

References 23 publications

What does scalp electroencephalogram coherence tell us about long‐range cortical networks?

What does scalp electroencephalogram coherence tell us about long‐range cortical networks?

Norman Geschwind and the Use of History in the (Re)Birth of Behavioral Neurology

The Long View of Language Localization

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