DEVEI OPING LISTENING FLUENCY

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We find a different area of the brain involved in this type of listening comprehension task. Any lesion or disturbance to the parieto-occipital (or temporo-pariero-occipital) zones of the left hemisphere, causes gross disturbances to this synthetic function.
The third, and most important condition for the understanding of narrative speech
and the decoding of its meaning is active analysis ofits most significant elements. ⁷¹
We now know, however, that active searching behaviour, requiring integrity of a
stable intention, the formation of a programme or the appropriate actions, and the
checking of their course, is achieved with the intimate participation of other brain
zones, and that the inclusion of the appropriate zones of thefrontal lobes into the
system is an essential condition for the performance of this active searching activity.⁷²
Thus it will be readily understood that the participation of the frontal lobes in the
decoding of complex expressions, requiring active work for their decoding, is
absolutely necessary, and that a lesion of thefrontal lobes, while not preventing the
understanding of words and simple sentences, will completely prevent the
understanding of complex forms of narrative speech and, in particular, the
understanding of the hidden meaning of a complex expression.⁷³

In following a paradigm based upon language acquisition rather than language performance, it has been assumed that the performances of listening and speaking would both depend upon a central nervous system structure which is similar and related, if not identical. And so it seems when one examines the neuropsychology of expressive speech. Luria discusses first the most elementary type of speech, repetitive speech. Again we find that in order for the individual to repeat a simple word or phrase, the left temporal cortex must be involved. When we move to the next higher level of expressive speech, the naming of objects, we find the act much more complex and more areas of the brain involved.
Luriapresents three basic conditions for the adequate naming of objects of their pictures.
The first condition for adequate naming of objects or their pictures is a sufficiently
clear level of visual perception. As soon as visual perception loses its precision. . . or as
soon as the weakening of visual ideas appears, the naming of objects becomes severely
impaired, having lost its concrete optical basis. ⁷⁴
Here is further argumentationfor the emphasis on the semantic aspects of language. Where the basic "meaning" aspect fades, the linguistic symbols associated with it seem also to fade in recall strength.
The second essential, and self-evident condition for normal naming of objects, is
integrity of the precise acoustic structure of speech, connected with the already
familiar function of the speech-hearing systems of the left temporal region. ⁷⁵ The maintenance of the integrity of the acoustic structure is achieved by the inhibition of all irrelevant alternatives, and the isolation of the required dominant meaning is similarly achieved.
The third, and by far the most complex condition for the correct naming of objects, is
discovery of the proper, selective meaning and inhibition of all irrelevant alternatives
arising in the course of such attempts... the naming of an object is interwoven into a
network or matrix of possible connections, which includes the verbal description of all
the various qualities of the object, together with the countless other names describing
similar qualities (belonging to the same semantic category), or similar in their acoustic
or morphological structure, which spring up. ⁷⁶
This activity is easy for the normally working cortex, but damage to the parieto-occipital cortex zonescreates difficulty to the naming of objects. You may recall that this is the zone involved in understanding complex grammatical relations.