How does our ability to communicate and understand language work?
This question has been studied from various branches of psychology and has remained a mystery until the arrival of scientific and technological advances in this discipline. Neuroimaging and neuropsychology techniques have confirmed the existence of two fundamental areas for speech and language understanding: Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area. Both systems were discovered centuries ago, but it was not until a few decades ago that it was found out exactly how they work.
In this Psychology-Online article “Broca and Wernicke area: differences and functions“, we will talk about these important sets of neurons in our brain, where they are located and how exactly they work.
Where are the Broca and Wernicke area located?
First of all, it is important to be clear that these areas are part of the (CNS), that is, they are located in the lobes of the brain.
- Broca’s area (1) is responsible for producing language and is located in the left hemispheremore specifically at the bottom of the frontal lobe.
- Wernicke’s area (2) is responsible for sound understanding and can normally be found in the left hemisphere, although in 30% of left-handed people and 10% of right-handed people it is located in the right hemisphere. This area belongs to temporal lobe and is highly related to the auditory area.
- The broca area and Wernicke’s area are connected by a group of nerve fibers known as the aqueated fasciculus.
Below we provide an image to show where Broca and Wernicke’s area are located
Broca and Wernicke area: differences
Although both systems are closely related to the human ability to communicate, there are several differences between Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas that we must mention.
First of all, it is important to know that the area of Drill It is involved in the arrangement of phonemes (minimum unit of language) in words and in the joining of words to form sentences and sentences, while Wernicke’s area is responsible for processing the sounds we hear and relating them to speech and the language we already know.
That is, thanks to the area of Wernicke we understand what we are told. In addition, Wernicke’s area is next to the system responsible for processing sounds, so it is easier to remember its function if we remember where it is located.
In summary: the main difference between Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area is that the former is responsible for plan the way we speak and the second is responsible for let’s understand what we are told.
Below, we show you an image of the connection between Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas through the arcuate fasciculus:
Image: PsicoWisdom
Wernicke’s area: functions and diseases
Finally, to understand the Broca and Wernicke area: differences and functionsit is essential to know the origin of both terms.
These concepts were discovered from medical cases in which people who suffered injuries to certain areas of the brain could not speak or understand language and, when doing a forensic analysis, they discovered that all the injured areas were the same.
In 1874, Karl Wernicke discovered that certain patients whose brains had been damaged could not speak in a structured manner. Although they pronounced well and their words made sense, the message could not be understood. What happened to them, then, is that they were unable to understand language.
The lesion that all these patients had in common was located in the posterior part of the temporal lobe, in Brodmann areas 21 and 22. Based on the study of this type of lesions, Wernicke named the affected area after him, stating that this was responsible for language comprehension.
Today, we define Wernicke’s area as a set of neural networks responsible for processing typical speech sounds and expressing them as words and concepts, that is, their function is to decode phonemes. Despite not being a “word selector” system, this area is necessary to carry out the production of fluent and understandable speech.
Wernicke’s aphasia
By affecting the decoding of phonemes, Wernicke’s aphasia is characterized by inability to understand a message or repeat it. As we have mentioned previously, patients with this type of injury do not correctly understand what they are told and, as a result, they do not generate logical discourse.
Broca’s area: functions and diseases
This area of the cerebral cortex was discovered before Wernicke’s Area, 13 years earlier to be more specific. In 1861, neurosurgeon Paul Broca discovered that some people with speech difficulties had a lesion in Brodmann’s areas 44 and 45. Today, we know that Broca’s area is part of an area responsible for arranging phonemes (minimum units of language) in words and, in addition, it is also an area of access to verbs and functional words.
That is, Broca’s area is the one in charge of the relational aspects of language and grammar and, in addition, it is the area of the nervous system in charge of storing functional words such as verbs.
In summary, the main functions of Broca’s area are:
- Produce logical and understandable sounds (He speaks)
- Process language
- Control the neurons responsible for facial movement
Broca’s aphasia
People who suffer a lesion in this area end up presenting Broca’s aphasia, this neurophysiological disease is characterized by difficulty in producing words and joining elements in a sentence (loss of the ). That is, a person with Broca’s aphasia will not be able to express themselves correctly or form complete sentences.
These types of injuries are quite disabling but can be improved through rehabilitation and a lot of practice to reeducate the facial muscles.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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References
- Castaño, J. (2003). Neurobiological bases of language and its alterations. Rev Neurol, 36(8), 781-5.
- Brodmann, K. (1909). Comparative location of the cerebral cortex. In comparative localization of the cerebral cortex. Brodmann’s areas are a classification system of the cerebral cortex that is widely used in the world of neuroanatomy.
Bibliography
- Binder, J.R. (2015). The Wernicke area Modern evidence and a reinterpretation. Neurology, 10-1212.