Brain Regions Involved
An aprosodia is an acquired or developmental impairment in comprehending or generating the emotion conveyed in spoken language. This is seen sometimes in persons with Asperger syndrome.
Producing these nonverbal elements requires intact motor areas of the face, mouth, tongue, and throat. This area is associated with Brodmann areas 44 and 45 (Broca's area) of the left frontal lobe. Damage to areas 44/45 produces motor aprosodia, with the nonverbal elements of speech being disturbed (facial expression, tone, rhythm of voice).
Understanding these nonverbal elements requires an intact and properly functioning Brodmann area 22 (Wernicke's area) in the right hemisphere. Right-hemispheric area 22 aids in the interpretation of prosody, and damage causes sensory aprosodia, with the patient unable to comprehend changes in voice and body language .
Prosody is dealt with by a right-hemisphere network that is largely a mirror image of the left perisylvian zone. Damage to the right inferior frontal gyrus causes a diminished ability to convey emotion or emphasis by voice or gesture, and damage to right superior temporal gyrus causes problems comprehending emotion or emphasis in the voice or gestures of others.
Read more about this topic: Prosody (linguistics)
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