Word: ojemann
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University of Washington neurosurgeon Dr. George Ojemann has discovered, by probing the brain with electrodes, that some neurons turn on when one is silently naming an object to oneself but not during reading and vice versa. In one bilingual patient he found neurons that were activated by Finnish but not English. In another he found neurons that changed activity with English but not Spanish. And, marvels Ojemann, "the neurons that are active when you hear a word are not active when you express...
...nurture more apparent than in the unique human abilities of speaking, reading and writing. No one is born knowing French, for example; it must be learned, changing the brain forever. Even so, language skills are linked to specific cerebral centers. In a remarkable series of experiments, neurosurgeon George Ojemann of the University of Washington has produced scores of detailed maps of people's individual language centers...
...First, Ojemann tested his patients' verbal intelligence using a written exam. Then, during neurosurgery -- which was performed under a local anesthetic -- he asked them to name aloud a series of objects found in a steady stream of black-and-white photos. Periodically, he touched different parts of the brain with an electrode that temporarily blocked the activity of that region. (This does not hurt because the brain has no sense of pain.) By noting when his patients made mistakes, the surgeon was able to determine which sites were essential to naming...
Intriguingly, the sexual differences are far less significant in people with higher verbal IQs. Their language skills developed in a more intermediate part of the brain. And yet, no two patterns were ever identical. "That to me is the most important finding," Ojemann says. "Instead of these sites being laid down more or less the same in everyone, they're laid down in subtly different places." Language is scattered randomly across these cerebral centers, he hypothesizes, because the skills evolved so recently...
...There's a definite emphasis on taking courses that will get you a job rather than courses that you'll enjoy," says James R. Ojemann, a senior in the college who plans a government career in national security. "Seventy-five percent of these people don't care what they learn, but what kind of grade they get," he adds...