Language and Mind

Language is not part of the brain. Often, they are voices we hear and letters we read. When we hear the word snake, the sound waves of the uttered word enter our ears, passing through the three small bones and other parts until it reaches the basilar membrane where the sound waves transduce into small electrical impulse, also called neural impulse. It flows in the vestibular nerve and, finally, into the cerebrum.

Verstibular nerve and cerebrum compose of neural cells. The latter has about 100 nerve cells. They serve as complex lines for neural impulses. These impulses overlap, join together and some run continuously in complex circuits. At a great speed of about 200 miles/sec, we barely comprehend the awesome processes in the mind.

Neurophysiologists designated different functions of specific parts in the brain. The five senses have different spots. Accordingly, certain areas in the brain account for language. Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas largely helping communication with the use of language. The former interprets sound patterns. Interpretation necessarily invokes images in the mind. To illustrate, if viper wasn’t yet seen before, no picture comes in the mind but the word only.

Image in the mind is acquired from previous stimulus. For example, seeing a snake, visible light wave enters the pupils of our eyes. It goes through the eyeballs until reaching the retina behind them where the wave turns into neural impulse, too. It flows through the optic nerve and registers into the visual cortex.

Subsequently, when hearing “snake” the Wernicke’s area simply joins the utterance from the hearing cortex with the image of the uttered word from the visual cortex. To illustrate, the sound snake from hearing cortex joins neural impulse in Wernicke’s area with the image of snake from the visual cortex. If the word and previous experience of the body with chill registered in the somatic are also integrates there. It is situated in the middle of the cortexes and it conveniently attaches stimuli from sensory parts. Meanwhile in written text, the angular gyrus helps translate these into sound patterns. This may oversimplify the unfathomable activity of the neural impulse, but like Rutherford’s atom model it provides essential understanding of the brain. Definitely, no problem exists as long as we use our own language.

Problem rise when we use different language, just like Ilokano using English or Tagalog. If we hear strange words, Wernicke’s area meets two difficulties in interpreting them, first with regards sound patterns and another with visual image or other stimuli.