Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

a major way of linking the brain to linguistic
Historically,
has been through the study of brain injury
behaviour
caused individuals to lose (parts of) their
which
ability. Examples are the patients of Paul Broca
linguistic
Carl Wernicke—two physicians and anatomists from
and
19th century. Their famous work linked language
the
(aphasias) with damage to specic areas of
disorders
frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. In the case
the
Broca’s aphasia, damage to a region in the front of the
of
called the inferior frontal gyrus caused problems
brain
speech production, while comprehension was
with
preserved. However, damage to the superior
relatively
lobe led to the opposite decit of normal
temporal
production, but loss of comprehension, known
speech
of neuroscientic research since have helped
Decades
extend the basic insights of Broca and Wernicke
us
up a more rened model of language in the
andbuild
Developments in technology and data analysis
brain.
led to the understanding that the machinery that
have
us to produce and understand words and
enables
lies in a network of brain regions much more
sentences
than previously thought. Methodologies
distributed
as functional magnetic resonance imaging
such
allow us to record metabolic brain activity with
(fMRI)
precision, but low temporal resolution. Tools
spatial
as EEG and MEG are able to record brain activity
such
it oms to languag, xprts disagr
Whn
many ntral qustions: whn and how
aout
languag originat? Ar all languags
did
to on anothr on som lvl? To what
rlatd
is languag a uniquly human apaity?
xtnt
maks som languags mor omplx or
What
is not our pla in TOK to try and rsolv
It
dats. But w an and should
ths
th ompting laims mad as part
valuat
ontrovrsis and opn qustions aout
of
Other tools, such as transcranial magnetic
resolution.
(TMS) allow us to disrupt the functioning
stimulation
a targeted brain area temporarily and to draw
of
about its causal role in a given cognitive
conclusions
example, new research shows that word meaning
For
not represented in a purely symbolic fashion. Rather
is
dening words by sole reference to other known
than
as is the case with a dictionary, our brain
vocabulary,
word meaning by calling upon more “basic”
stores
systems. Understanding a word is very
sensorimotor
from just retrieving a denition—it involves
dierent
simulating the various perceptual, motor and
mentally
properties that someone associates with the
emotional
When you hear the word “cat”, your brain produces
word.
extremely fast simulation of what it would be like
an
see a cat in front of you, to hear it or touch it, or how
to
felt one time when a cat scratched you. From a
you
psychology perspective, this is quite a daring
traditional
because it seems to blur the distinctions between
view,
thinking and acting. However, this insight
perceiving,
hardly surprise any poet, knowing the visceral
will
words can have on us: they can lift our spirit and
eect
a joyous swelling of the chest, stir us to action,
cause
us to tears or infect us with stomach-hurting
bring
This emphasizes the fact that there are many
laughter.
ways of knowing, through language,
complementary
On what asis ar th diffrnt laims mad
1.
on what asis an thy ontstd?
and
If onfliting laims ar supportd y vry
2.
vidn—nurologial, ognitiv,
diffrnt
and so on—to what xtnt is it
typologial
to ompar thm?
possil
What is th diffrn twn laims
3.
ar dsriptions of how languag
that
and xplanations of why it works a
works
way?
partiular
III. Methods and tools
III. Methods and tools
process, such as language.
as Wernicke’s aphasia.
science or art—as presented in this book.
with millisecond temporal precision, but lower spatial
Practising skills: Evaluating claims
diffiult than othrs?
languag. Considr th following qustions.
103