It makes the point that the field of neuroscience has emerged from a diversity of traditional fields, anatomy, embryology, pharmacology and psychology amongst others. The common thread that unites these different approaches is a quest to understand how nerve cells, the brain and behaviour function. This reading aims to give you an overall concept of what the brain is, and how it works from an historical perspective. Using language as an example this chapter proposes several important principals that will enhance your understanding of how the brain works, and which you should be familiar with. When one is damaged the others may compensate to some degree for that damage.
Language is an example of cortical localisation.
Different areas of the cortex have different functional roles in the understanding and production of language. Damage to any one processing site causes specific and characteristic deficits. Yet, unless the system breaks down, we only become aware of the end result. Don t worry if some of these concepts and ideas seem overwhelming at this stage. They will be the focus of much more discussion in different sections the subject.