Broca's Area
- Broca's area is one of the main areas of the cerebral cortex responsible for producing language. This region of the brain was named for French neurosurgeon Paul Broca who discovered the function of Broca's area while examining the brains of patients with language difficulties. This brain area controls motor functions involved with speech production. Persons with damage to Broca's area of the brain can understand language but cannot properly form words or produce speech.
- Broca's area is located in the lower portion of the left frontal lobe.
Wernicke's area
- Wernicke's area is a small part of the brain that helps us to understand language.
- Ten years after Broca's discovery, Carl Wernicke, a neurologist, made a similar discovery; only this time his patients were able to speak. Even though they were speaking, the speech was incoherent or just did not make any sense. He found lesions on the same side of the brain as Broca's area, but in the back of the temporal lobe.
- It is usually, though not always, found on the back portion of the left temporal lobe. It is found on the left side of the temporal lobe in right-handed people about 90% of the time and in left-handed people about 70% of the time. This same area is found in the brain of deaf people who use sign language as well. This last finding hints that Wernicke's area may not be used for just spoken language.
Bailey, R. (2014). Broca's Area. Retrieved from About.com Biology: http://biology.about.com/od/anatomy/p/brocas-area.htm
Wernicke's Area: Function, Location & Quiz. (2014). Retrieved from Education Portal: http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/wernickes-area-function-location-quiz.html#lesson
Wernicke's Area: Function, Location & Quiz. (2014). Retrieved from Education Portal: http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/wernickes-area-function-location-quiz.html#lesson