Paul Broca

From Psy3241

Introduction

1824-1880

Born in France June 28, 1824, Pierre Paul Broca was a pathologist, early neurosurgeon, and anthropologist. His neurosurgical contributions are most relevant to the class.

Contributions to Modern Medicine

Broca is considered the founder of modern brain surgery. He accurately described muscular dystrophy, rickets, and the spread of cancer before other experts. He discovered left hemisphere dominance for speech, and localized the area in what is now known as Broca's area. Broca used the case of a patient known as Tan (aphasia patient) to further support his theory of speech localization in the brain. Broca's contributions set the framework for modern research into the investigation of localization for other functions of the brain.