Wernicke's area

From Psy3241

Wernicke's area was discovered by Carl Wernicke in 1874. Located on the left superior temporal gyrus, this area controls the function of connects speech sounds to stored representations of words. Wernicke's area is anatomically linked to Broca's area. A lesion to this area will likely result in difficulties in language comprehension. In an article published by Carl Wernicke in 1874, he reported 10 aphasic patients with difficulties in language comprehension. An autopsy on four of the patients provided results that they had lesions damaging the left temporal lobe. This specfic type of aphasia is now known as Wernicke's aphasia. Recent research by Dronkers et. al. (1998) revealed that 'pure' damage to Wernicke's area most likely results in impairment in repetition rather than comprehension deficits. Damage to the part of the brain linking Broca's area and Wernicke's area, the arcuate fasciculus, can lead to conduction aphasia, in which the patient loses the ability to repeat words.

Other brain areas associated with language function include: Broca's area, the supramarginal gyrus, angular gyrus, and the arcuate fasciculus (a pathway thought to connect Wernicke's area with Broca's area).

References

Stirling, J. (2002). Introducing neuropsychology. New York: Psychology Press.

Ogden, J. A. (2005). Fractured minds. New York: Oxford University Press.

Image taken from: http://users.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/~stuart/thesis/chapter_3/section3_2.html