The fact that our brain basically needs so much energy in large part due to the necessity of processing visual and verbal communication is still so wild to me. Talking must have been really really important to the success of our ancestors.

I had a major left brain stroke when I was 31. I live in Canada so I received awesome care in rehab. Then, the place that I’ve worked at gave me another chance and hired me back. That’s where I really learned English again. Took me 3 years to be able to say what I wanted to say. Ever intelligent, I found it really disturbing that I could do everything except say the words in English. I became very fluent in gibberish (and swearing!) My English isn’t that good when I write. But I’m still improving 16 years later. I could go on and on talking about my stroke. But, all in all, I very happy that I made it back. People don’t recognize that something is altered in me. But, that is ok.

Aphasia is, simply, just awful 😢 Neurodegeneration is one of the things that scares the hell out of me 😱 I’m thankful there’s such people as neuropsychologists ❤

My mother had a stroke and it affected her ability to talk, she described it as having a word you can't quite grasp right on the tip of your tongue, except for every single word. Oddly, only her native language was affected, her secondary were fine. Today she can talk well again, except for a stutter, which she doesn't mind.

I am autistic and find that I can really relate to the concept of aphasia causing difficulty in expression even when your thinking is still the same. Because of my disorder I often experience a similar thing and have before described it as being like my first language isn't truly "native" to me - I have to translate between my thoughts and my expression. This especially comes out when I am very fatigued and will speak in a very similar way to what was shown for the expressive aphasia example and speaking only in "key concepts". As a child that went undiagnosed I have had a lot of struggle with my way of speaking, it still makes me anxious (especially when my mind gives me a word from an entirely different language I know and then I have to translate again haha) but I love my voice now - mainly because the people I know now love to talk with me even if I speak strangely. My friends love me for it, not in spite of it.

I had a brain injury and especially in the beginning I had a lot of trouble getting the right words out. One funny example was that I could never manage to say the word "cucumber" and would always say "celery." I work in a restaurant so this came up pretty often. I need to talk about a long green vegetable that starts with C and I guess "celery" is good enough.

I suffered a TBI in 2017 while living overseas, and the combination of general memory/identity loss and random aphasia turned me into a recluse because my linear expression was so disrupted that my mind began trying to use symbols--math, geometric shapes, distances, etc--to explain concepts and relationship patterns between larger thoughts. I'd been a lifelong writer/journaler before that, but having words 'taken away' from me didn't stop my compulsive drive to attempt communication. It just became a lot of music and images--pictures, drawings, algebraic expressions--in those moments where 'words' ceased to happen.

My daughter has what is now a mild expressive speech delay and in going through speech therapy with her I really learned a lot about what it takes to speak words. There are so many movements involved in making words that as normal speaking adults we never think of. Also it takes time to develop the ability to make different sounds. My daughter is about to turn 4 and she went from maybe 5 words at age 2 to more words then I can count now. She is still hard to understand sometimes but watching her go from barely talking to nonstop talking has been an interesting journey. Human language is such and interesting and complicated thing and I loved learning about it in this video.

One thing that fascinates me about language is that we can’t not learn it. As long as we’re exposed to a language (and conditions are right), we will definitely learn it. We have no choice.

These videos are always super enlightening and educational. And off-topic, but for some reason I find it reassuring that Dr. Tan finishes his answers with a nod and a smile to signal that he's ready for the next question. I bet he's a great educator/mentor to someone. Great communicator with a great smile+nod. :)

My cousin's husband has aphasia due to a stroke, He understood people, but could only make nonsense sounds that sounded like words but weren't. My cousin did say that he could swear with no problem though.

Your last question to him is genius and should be included in every interview ever!

I have an inflammatory seizure disorder called encephalitis, and my inflammation and seizures were mostly effected in my right temporal lobe and it really effected my memory, I was in a coma for almost 5 days and they took a brain sample and found CNS vasculitis. I've never had this problem because my newer inflammation was on the right front side of my brain, my memory was really badly effected. Thankfully that was about a year and I'm doing waaaay better. I've had all the tests she's mentioned and more.

7:32 this reminds of something my mom told me about her high school Spanish teacher. From what I remember, her first language was English and her second was Spanish, and later in life got into a car accident that damaged her language ability for English, but she was still mostly fluent in Spanish. There were some days where she just could not speak English at all, but since she had that backup she was still able to communicate until she was recovered enough to speak English again

At the end, she mentions swearing. Fun fact: many people with dementia swear a lot more than they did before. "My mom would never swear!" "You want to bet on that?" ;D

I wonder what would be learned if they studied people like me with severe dyslexia. I know scientists found a decade or so ago that our Wernicke's and Brocas area, but I also know we use more global brain skills for things like reading and our visual processing is stronger than the neurotically brain. We always look at these things as what went wrong. It would be great if someone asked what went different.

Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) is another interesting language disorder and really is something that should make for a good episode. Especially, in talking about Broca and Werneke area

I recently had an issue in my brain and now remembering nouns is hard. Especially names. It's fun!

I'm curious whether aphasia affects people using sign language, and if so, does it affect language any differently?

Very timely, excellent explanation. Thank you.

I experienced aphasia and still have it a little once in a while. Like simply saying my name. I had several tbi’s and have post concussive syndrome issues. I'm very lucky to have neuroplasticity and have healed a lot.

Jan Berry, of Jan and Dean (Vocal Surf Rock duo from the '60's) got in a car accident and suffered brain damage that caused paralysis and aphasia. There's a pretty good biopic about the dou and it deals pretty extensively with Jan's attempts to sing again. Jan and Dean's song include Surf City (cowritten between Jan and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys), Dead Man's Curve, and The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena) It's interesting that singing is sometimes the way around language issues. Some stutterers have no problems when they sing, and some stroke victims are able to sing their words post stroke. Singing utilizes a good portion of the right brain.

I always get so excited when I see a new episode drop,. I am very much a lay person but I love language amd the study thereof so very much. Thank you for always making my day far more interesting

I had an ischemic stroke in my left frontal lobe last year, and for the first hour before I got treatment I was paralyzed on my right side and I had expressive aphasia, although I could understand other people talking. After getting tPA to dissolve the blood clot that caused my stroke, my language ability mostly came back, except for some difficulty reading English (my first language). Oddly, I did not have difficulty reading a second language that I learned as an adult that uses a different script. Over the following days, my language ability completely recovered, and most of my physical abilities recovered.

I become aphasic during some of my psychogenic seizure episodes, Im loving learning more about how language works in the brain

We really need to switch to arm processers at this point. The old system is just too energy hungry. Legit tho, after an on the job head injury parts of my vocabulary abruptly changed, even including things like my rhythm and cadence. It wasn't an active problem so doctors were never interested in looking into it, but I've always wondered just exactly what changed

Thank you for including signed languages

What a wonderful and important episode. It gives hope along with information and empathy. Aphasia would be devastating for me, and I'm so glad to hear how much potential there is for recovery from it.

I get PTSI related spontaneous mutism. Loose my internal dialogue along with. Fortunately, singing and sign still works

My noggin has hit pavement so many times, I am quite surprised that my language is still as well as it is.

I love the tapping sound at 8:02. Also, what a cute outtake! "Oh noooooo!" lol

I love otherwords so much! please keep putting out videos! you guys are great!

I did not realize the differences in the aphasias, thank you.

Thank you for this very important information.

Excellent video! I learned quite a few new things!

You all do such a great job! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Regarding the 7:33 mark... Take that, Hank Green! I remember specifically in one of your sci show episodes you said that there is no good science behind learning a second language as being helpful to the brain, and that its benefits are all way overblown. Also get well soon. Despite my note above, you still are a national treasure.

I get migraines and part of the aura (non-pain symptoms) is a period (usually 15-30 minutes) of aphasia and I can tell you it's horrible because you're sitting there and you know you're being talked to and you know you want to say something but your thoughts are jumbled and your speech is even more jumbled and so you can tell that people are concerned but you can't talk to them - it's horrible and I'm truly blessed that it goes away again for me and I really hope the best for anyone experiencing it

What we found out about how the brain is so hard wired to value language, even above reasoning, motor/visual/spatial skills, and how much a person's development (in this case, language) is so dependent on other people, just fly in the face of those who would preach "social Darwinism" or some bullshit along that line. It simply doesn't even have a biological basis. This proves that in order to produce healthy individuals, we need to build society that allow us to hold on to even the most vulnerable and take care of each other. It also doesn't go unnoticed to me that you always make an effort to include people who communicate differently (with sign language) and to depict figures of ethnicities that's not always white in your videos. Thank you so much.

My nephew and his daughter have a neurodivergence that is an auditory issue. They are unable to process how the words they speak sound. They need a speech pathologist to help them know how words feel in their mouths.

I love the videos that guys make and upload.

when I was a kid I read a Roald Dahl short story called the Vicar of Nibbleswicke about the Reverend Lee who had a fictional form of dyslexia called Back to Front dyslexia but this dyslexia variant in the story to me behaved more like Wernicke's aphasia.

I love watching videos from this channel ❤

Such an interesting video! Clear explanation!

I have MDD and personally learning a new language was so rewarding and help me cope with my disability, dopamine is my best friend.

Excellent video!

Great video thank You very very much

This was very educational thank you 👍

my mum suffered a brain hemorrhage years ago and still struggles with words, I do too but I have different condition

I knew somebody recently who apparently had some kind of brain damage. She seemed perfectly capable of understanding what people were telling her, and of conducting her life, but when she would say something, the right words never seemed to come out. I would struggle so much to understand what she was trying to say--it was so difficult and frustrating.

Your videos are always interesting and informative. It's always a treat when you put out a new video. ❤

Hello, Dr. Brozovsky. Would you like to do a video about phobias, and how phobias got their names, sometime later? You may invite Dr. Emily Zarka from Monstrum if you like!

I have Cerebral Palsy and I have to use a communication device. The speech center part of my brain is partly damaged and filled with fluid, so my speech isn't understandable by most people.

Thanks 🙂

As a psychometrist (working under three pediatric neuropsychologists) who also has a background in modern languages (particularly French)... I've never felt like a video was so tailored to me ha ha.

do other nonverbal languages like signing use the same pathways?

Knowledge is power!

There is also one for those born with it this one is normally a damage or complicated distation in the woum or a hard birth on the baby. I have such a hard time understanding what I hear. I have to take a long time to prosses what is said to me

I have known some people that were able to talk again after speech therapy. It can work.

I just took a class in university about Neurolinguistics. It's actually very complicated.

That was sooo interesting! Btw what happened to F&F series?

80 percent of what we see is created in the brain 20 percent is input from outside

Considering the movies WIllis has been MAKING for the last 5 years we might have asked him to retire sooner. But considering what we know now about how Hollywood pays the people who make the things they sell, he might not have had ENOUGH to retire.

Nice nail color 💅🏻

It would be really interesting to see an episode devoted to at least 2 of the classical figures in language like Saussure and Peirce. The brain is super interesting but language involves a whole lot more in addition to just the brain. Language is ultimately a *social* phenomenon and it is therefore *socially grounded* . No sign in any language can be interpreted in isolation from the language at large; and because of this figures, like Saussure have called into question the seemingly common sense notion of *reference* . The common sense view that words refer directly to things in the world has been challenged by Saussure and others arguing that meaning is not derived directly from things in the world but from the way that each language imposes its relational system on the continuum of thought. A language can be looked upon as a network whereby each "node" or sign/word in the network *SOLELY* gets its value from how it differentiates itself to other nodes/signs/words/ in the network. In other words, language plays a direct role in how we parse reality. Many scientists today seem to *believe* ... that consciousness is mere illusion. Well, given the kind of language we always seem to use when we talk about our brains (idiomatic habits like): 1. "your brain is always changing" 2. "your brain activates the fight/flight response" 3. "the brain recognizes patterns" etc... It's always struck me as sort.. of... I dunno... *weird* that we always talk about our brains in the 2nd person point of view. Why? Am I not my brain? Always talking about our brains in the 2nd person makes it sound like as if I, me - that I'm just this empty fleshy marionette, and my brain (separated from me) is in the back controlling me like a puppeteer. And if I'm just an empty marionette with my brain doing all the controlling, there would appear to be no room for consciousness. I think it's not too far-fetched to say that these people think consciousness is an illusion partly as a side effect from how we use language.

Brain so complex that the brain is trying to understand what's going on with itself. We are doing a meta level of introspection at this point.

When I was 25, i tried to unalive myself. I wont go into details but I used pharmaceuticals. I dont remember much but i do remember when i finally woke up in the hospital i couldnt speak. I understood what everyone was saying to me, i knew what i wanted to say but when i went to say it, nothing would come out. It was very scary and i dont wish it on anyone. Fortunately, my attempt was unsuccessful and i finally found my words again.

I was born with dysphasia and I don't know what's the difference between that and aphasia?

Aww....Legend! I'd recognize those unicorns anywhere.

The verbal content was wonderful. The background music hurt my brain.

❤🤍💙 all your videos mam👍

Sounds like my migraines must travel through brocas area

Does aphasia affect ability to comprehend, or is it only difficulty finding words to communicate? It's incredible that the brain prioritises language over other skills, because you'd imagine that language would be one of the later skills that humans developed in evolutionary terms.

The brain is amazing. I wish I had one.

I have fibromyalgia and when my pain is high I can't remember how to say words. It's incredibly frustrating. I guess it's like a temporary Broca's aphasia. What's up with that?

I wonder how this relates to second language learners as we store our mother tongue in the long term memory and use it in the pre-frontal cortex

i wonder how sign language fits into this. although sign language has grammar and structure just like spoken language, maybe the fact that, generally speaking, one single sign corresponds to a word/concept might make it easier to comunicate

This video makes me wonder if human intelligence is the product of language

My TBI effected words big time 5 years later when I write I have trouble with simple words 4 letter words that start with w. Like what went with I have trouble spelling them. My spelling over all is still broken. Before the injury I could communicate in half a dozen languages now barely one.

You ladies should do a video about Genie Wiley.

Demi Moore the ABC soap opera General Hospital, playing the role of an investigative reporter until 1983. do you know General Hospital uses the characters on the show that has aphasia. She was married too. Bruce Willis. Are you seeing where this is going to?

Major car accident at age 15, brain injury (TBI) primarily to left side of brain plus frontal lobe. Having said that, English has always been my favorite 'toy'. Puns, unexpected correlations between words or concepts. Even consider myself an osteosynchrondroitrician. lol Now at age 75 I find that finding the correct word verbally can at times be a trial yet not as difficult to write the thought. In many cases, verbally or written, the correct word will be in the 'stream' of words I am about to use but at the moment of need it will be gone. Frustrating. I am wondering if the loss of substantial memory function (it has improved over the 60 years) from the TBI can be having an impact on the word find function. The brain is fascinating and worthy of much more study. It is said that a majority of the sea floor is unknown, I would say that that knowledge is far greater than what we know of the brain and its subtleties.

💡

I wonder if things like lion's mane and other fungi said to repair and form new neural pathways would be helpful in treating this. Is anyone doing trials on this?

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

I tend to think the left brain is dominant for things the subconscious thinks through and the right for what consciousness thinks through.

Engagement for the engagement god!

Oh frick, I didn't know Bruce's condition was the result of dementia. Wonder how long he has left.

so, in *other words*, the brain is really important for language.

I imagine is fundamental with anthropology

How old is Dr Tan ? 16 ? He looks so young

I'm trying to learn more and more about this if anyone has a video with a lot of trauma to the head connected to this please send it.

OK, what came first Zee or Zed? Since when was it ok to spell a consonant with a different consonant? Zed would be the only consonant spelled with a different consonant.

💖💗💞💝💘💓❣️

How do people with different kinds of aphasia handle sign language??

Can you get long-lasting aphasia from severe sleep chronic sleep deprivation and/or stress/other areas of poor physical healthcare? I didn't have any particular issues with language that I'm aware of when I was younger, but in the last part of my last year of high school I was incredibly stressed and depressed, had no idea how to eat well, didn't exercise, barely slept, and I developed several issues, some of which went away when I started being healthier and some of which got better but never went away. One of those latter effects is that I struggle a lot to remember words, especially nouns. It results is a noticeably stilted speech pattern. My mum has commented on it, that she noticed I was struggling with language all of a sudden in the last weeks of high school, and that I never fully went back to how fluidly I spoke before. Since then I've had other periods of prolonged significant stress and lack of sleep, and I have developed other issues during those periods. Again, some go away once I get enough sleep, some sick around. One of the things I developed (as far as I know it wasn't present when I was younger) is an audio processing disorder. Do these things count as aphasia? I'm very curious to know more.

are you not in the guild?

8:49

language is just mixed vocal body language

Hodor.