Wernicke's area facts for kids
| Brain: Wernicke's area | ||
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Quick facts for kids
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| Approximate location of Wernicke's area highlighted in grey |
Wernicke's area is a very important part of your brain. It helps you understand what people say and read. It also plays a role in how you speak and write. It works closely with another brain area called Broca's area, which helps you produce speech.
Contents
Understanding Wernicke's Area
Wernicke's area is a special part of your cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is the outer layer of your brain. This area is mostly found in the left side of your brain. For most people, about 95% of right-handed people and 60% of left-handed people, the left side is their "dominant" side for language.
How Was This Area Discovered?
Like Broca's area, Wernicke's area was found by studying patients. These patients had problems with language. A German neurologist named Carl Wernicke made this discovery.
He had a patient who could speak quite well. But this patient could not understand what others were saying. After the patient passed away, Wernicke studied their brain. He found damage in a specific spot. This spot was in the upper part of the temporal lobe. It was just behind the area that processes sounds.
Wernicke correctly guessed that this damaged area was responsible for understanding speech. This type of language difficulty is now called Wernicke's aphasia. It is also known as receptive aphasia.
What Happens if Wernicke's Area is Damaged?
If Wernicke's area is damaged, people might have trouble understanding language. This is called Wernicke's aphasia. When you ask someone with this problem a question, they might answer with a sentence that sounds grammatical. However, the words they use might not make sense together. It can sound like a "word salad" because the words are jumbled.
People with Wernicke's aphasia also find it hard to name things. They might use words that sound similar. Or they might use names of related things. It's like their mental dictionary is very hard to use.
How Wernicke's Area Connects to Other Parts
Even though Broca's area and Wernicke's area are in different parts of the brain, they are quite close. They are connected by a bundle of nerve fibers. This bundle is called the arcuate fasciculus. There is also another nerve pathway that connects them. These connections help the two areas work together for language.
Images for kids
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Human brain with Wernicke's area highlighted in red
See also
In Spanish: Área de Wernicke para niños
