Broca And Wernicke

Paul Broca and Karl Wernicke played a vital role in understanding how the human brain is associated with language. It began as Paul Broca described a patient who was only able to say the word “tan.” For this reason, Broca referred to the patient as Tan. After Tan died, Broca observed his brain and discovered that there was damage to the left frontal cortex. This part of the brain is now defined as Broca’s area. It is significant in the production of language which involves putting words together and forming complete sentences. Moreover, it is also associated with comprehension. Symptoms associated with Broca’s aphasia includes slow and often repetitive speech, and the content of one’s speech may be stripped down to simple sentences and may only contain basic words. It may also affect the writing ability of an individual. When considering Broca’s aphasia in result to its location in the frontal lobe, one can imply that the frontal lobe is important for cognitive functions. Wernicke’s area, discovered in 1876 is located in the left hemisphere in the posterior part of the temporal lobe. While Broca’s area is considered a motor speech area, Wernicke’s area can be defined as a sensory area. This means that it is involved in the comprehension of language. Patients diagnosed with Wernicke’s aphasia are unaware that the words that they are producing are incorrect and nonsensical. It is extremely difficult for those to match objects and thoughts with the corresponding word which represents them. Their reading and writing are often impaired by this as well. With regards to its’ function in the temporal lobe, one can come to the conclusion that this part of the brain plays a prominent role in understanding language and memory because they are unable to remember the correct words to say at specific times.