Re: Singing as prerequisite (or aid) to language.

Robert Karl Stonjek wrote:
> Language is handled mainly in Broca's and Wernicke's area, usually on the
> left side of the brain. If these areas are damaged such that a person loses
> the ability to process language - either to speak or interpret language -
> they may well still be able to sing (in words), swear, to laugh, cry, and
> make the cries, barks and squeals analogous to those of non-human animals.

Ie the musical faculty remains intact in the presence of aphasia,
effectively demolishing the notion that language and music are related.
Indeed, music is sometimes used in the therapy of stroke-induced
aphasia.

The reverse is true; there exists a condition analogous to aphasia
called amusia in which the ability to appreciate music is lost (eg from
a stroke). There is also a congenital form. Amusics, congenital or
otherwise, do not have language impairment. They are equivalent to
normals in the perception of pitch-dependent intonation in speech, but
way below them in pitch-perception in music.


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