Broca's and Wernicke Areas of the Brain, and Their Function on Speech

If you have ever wondered what part of the brain that controls speech, it's called Broca's Area. The Broca's ares is located in the left frontal lobe and controls not only speech production but also language comprehension, language compression and controls facial neurons.

Pierre Paul Brocca discovered the Broca's area in 1861 after studying the brain of a deceased patient who had suffered from speech impairment. Found in the frontal lobe in the inferior frontal gyrus, the Broca's area is comprised of the Pars triangularis and the Pars opercularis.

Carl Wernicke discovered the Wernicke's area of the brain around 10 years later after the Broca's area had been discovered. Wernicke was the first to note that not all speech related deficits were due to the Broca's area.

The Broca's area is connected by the arcuate fasciculus (pathway made of neurons) to the Wernicke's area. At the front portion of the Broca's area the Pars triangularis is located; this is where the verbal conducts are programmed in the brain. At the back region of the Broca's area the Pars opercularis is located is also considered a part of speech, in which language is produced. Due to the Pars opercularis location (near areas that are related to motor skills) it is fully known if there is a full connection to language production.

Damage to Broca's Area

Damage to Broca's area is called Broca's asphasia. A person suffering damage will likely exhibit problems like words not coming out properly formed, slowed or slurred speech, prevention of producing words, and possibility of not being able to comprehend language.

Damage to Wernicke's area

Damage to the Wernicke's area known as Wenicke's aphasia would result in people suffering from the loss of ability to comprehend language, and also the ability to speak words clearly but the inability to properly put them together. The words someone would speak would be out of order and would make no sense.

Speech-related brain disorders can range from but not limited to strokes, traumatic brain injury, aphasia, brain tumors, brain infections, degeneration defects and disrupted blood flow to the brain. Depending on the extent of the disorder and damage speech can be impaired on different levels. Depending on the disorder and treatment available speech damage may be able to be repaired through speech therapists and ongoing treatment of the disorder.

Source:

Furman College: The Brain and Language

University of Iowa: Broca's area and the language instinct

Speech Disorder: Neurological Disorders