Concept

Wernicke's area

Wernicke's area (ˈvɛərnᵻkə; ˈvɛɐ̯nɪkə), also called Wernicke's speech area, is one of the two parts of the cerebral cortex that are linked to speech, the other being Broca's area. It is involved in the comprehension of written and spoken language, in contrast to Broca's area, which is primarily involved in the production of language. It is traditionally thought to reside in Brodmann area 22, which is located in the superior temporal gyrus in the dominant cerebral hemisphere, which is the left hemisphere in about 95% of right-handed individuals and 70% of left-handed individuals. Damage caused to Wernicke's area results in receptive, fluent aphasia. This means that the person with aphasia will be able to fluently connect words, but the phrases will lack meaning. This is unlike non-fluent aphasia, in which the person will use meaningful words, but in a non-fluent, telegraphic manner. Wernicke's area is traditionally viewed as being located in the posterior section of the superior temporal gyrus (STG), usually in the left cerebral hemisphere. This area encircles the auditory cortex on the lateral sulcus, the part of the brain where the temporal lobe and parietal lobe meet. This area is neuroanatomically described as the posterior part of Brodmann area 22. However, there is an absence of consistent definitions as to the location. Some identify it with the unimodal auditory association in the superior temporal gyrus anterior to the primary auditory cortex (the anterior part of BA 22). This is the site most consistently implicated in auditory word recognition by functional brain imaging experiments. Others include also adjacent parts of the heteromodal cortex in BA 39 and BA40 in the parietal lobe. Despite the overwhelming notion of a specifically defined "Wernicke's Area," the most careful current research suggests that it is not a unified concept. While previously thought to connect Wernicke's area and Broca's area, new research demonstrates that the arcuate fasciculus instead connects to posterior receptive areas with premotor/motor areas, and not to Broca's area.

About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related lectures (8)
Hydrology Fundamentals
Introduces hydrology fundamentals, covering soil moisture, rainfall modeling, and reservoir systems.
Prader-Willi Syndrome: Genetic Deletions and Critical Genes
Explores Prader-Willi syndrome genetics, critical genes, and appetite regulation impact.
Theinfluenceoftheeegonthebrain
This study aimed to investigate the influence of the brain on the brain behavior.
Show more
Related publications (47)

Event-related causality in stereo-EEG discriminates syntactic processing of noun phrases and verb phrases

Silvestro Micera, Fiorenzo Artoni

Objective. Syntax involves complex neurobiological mechanisms, which are difficult to disentangle for multiple reasons. Using a protocol able to separate syntactic information from sound information we investigated the neural causal connections evoked by t ...
IOP Publishing Ltd2023

Combined use of intraoperative MRI and awake tailored microsurgical resection to respect functional neural networks: preliminary experience

Constantin Tuleasca

INTRODUCTION: The combined use of intraoperative MRI and awake surgery is a tailored microsurgical resection to respect functional neural networks (mainly the language and motor ones). Intraoperative MRI has been classically considered to increase the exte ...
2023

Fast-Spiking Interneurons of the Premotor Cortex Contribute to Initiation and Execution of Spontaneous Actions

Silvestro Micera, Maria Pasquini

Planning and execution of voluntary movement depend on the contribution of distinct classes of neurons in primary motor and premotor areas. However, timing and pattern of activation of GABAergic cells during specific motor behaviors remain only partly unde ...
SOC NEUROSCIENCE2023
Show more
Related concepts (20)
Stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functioning properly. Signs and symptoms of a stroke may include an inability to move or feel on one side of the body, problems understanding or speaking, dizziness, or loss of vision to one side. Signs and symptoms often appear soon after the stroke has occurred.
Receptive aphasia
Wernicke's aphasia, also known as receptive aphasia, sensory aphasia or posterior aphasia, is a type of aphasia in which individuals have difficulty understanding written and spoken language. Patients with Wernicke's aphasia demonstrate fluent speech, which is characterized by typical speech rate, intact syntactic abilities and effortless speech output. Writing often reflects speech in that it tends to lack content or meaning. In most cases, motor deficits (i.e. hemiparesis) do not occur in individuals with Wernicke's aphasia.
Cerebral hemisphere
The vertebrate cerebrum (brain) is formed by two cerebral hemispheres that are separated by a groove, the longitudinal fissure. The brain can thus be described as being divided into left and right cerebral hemispheres. Each of these hemispheres has an outer layer of grey matter, the cerebral cortex, that is supported by an inner layer of white matter. In eutherian (placental) mammals, the hemispheres are linked by the corpus callosum, a very large bundle of nerve fibers.
Show more

Graph Chatbot

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.