If you learned these languages in your adulthood, you use a different part of your brain to process them than if you had learned them as a child.
That is partly true. Psycholinguistic evidence suggests that Broca's and Wernicke's areas (areas commonly associated with productive and receptive aphasia when damaged) are actively engaged when producing languages acquired both primarily (at a young age) or secondarily (generally after about age 10). Of course, there are also a number of other areas that are engaged regardless of the language (auditory and motor centers for example).
When comparing primary language with secondary language, the contrast mainly lies with two issues. First, primary language is stored in such a way as to be more integrated with the memory or concept of the object discussed. This makes it difficult to isolate a primary "language center". Also, secondary language is typically (but not always) produced by a very different process.
Typically, when we are talking about speech production, the person thinks of the subject (perhaps a dog), which comes almost inseparably with the word "dog" (assuming English is the native language). Then, the front of the brain is engaged to translate "dog" to "chien" (for example). Then, the temporal lobe is engaged again for the actual speech production.
As a secondary language becomes more "ingrained", this translation process becomes more streamlined, and eventually goes away.
That's why it's often difficult for adults to pick up another language.
It has more to do with the way neurons and neural pathways are formed. By about age 10, we're pretty much done forming neurons, and neural pathways are much slower to form.
We have found that teaching and learning methodology actually has more to do with how/where language is stored, comprehended, and produced than the age at which it is acquired. The problem is that it is very difficult to acquire a second language as an adult the same way we acquired our first language as a child. The circumstances and motivations are just entirely different. However, there is some evidence suggesting that when we replicate that methodology as much as possible, this results in similar development of neural pathways. (The problem is, however, that it doesn't seem to help us learn secondary languages any better. It just uses different parts of the brain.)
So, if you're having a seizure in your speech centre, you can still speak other languages, because the areas that have acquired those skills are unaffected.
There is no such part of the brain as a "speech center" as such. The temporal lobe (particularly in the left hemisphere) is strongly and broadly engaged, but so is the visual cortex (in the occipital lobe), and parts of the frontal lobe (not to mention the motor and sensory cortices).
My seizures start in the left temporal lobe, apparently mostly or only on the left side. Less severe seizures, then, naturally involve auditory and speech disturbances. Since the production of secondary language involves most of the same areas as those involved in the production of primary language plus some additional areas throughout the cerebral cortex (to process vocabulary, syntax, etc.), we would expect that any disturbance that blocked primary language would also block secondary language.
So, it appears that some of the areas of the temporal lobe involved in speech are sometimes unaffected (allowing speech to occur), yet area(s) of the brain responsible for deciding which language I will use are misfiring. This is perhaps not surprising since Wernicke's area seems to be strongly effected as I have no ability to comprehend speech most of the time during a seizure. When I begin to speak, it seems like my brain, not understanding the words coming out of my mouth, quickly switches to another language - a language which apparently makes more sense.
It's a complicated affair. This is actually becoming one of my primary areas of interest/study. Interesting thing, the brain.
-B
I am getting very frightened and put it down to epilepsy and stress. My memory seems also affected. Has anyone else had speech problems since having epilepsy? So far I have only had 5 tonic-clonics but I think they lasted longer than an average persons seizure(?). :dontknow: Thank you for your time.
