Broca s area

A patient with a lesion in Wernicke s area is unable to understand any spoken or visual information. Furthermore, the patient s speech, while fluent, is unintelligible because of frequent errors in the choice of words. This condition is known as receptive aphasia. On the other hand, a patient with a lesion in Broca s area is able to understand spoken and written language but is unable to express his response in a normal manner. Speech in this patient is nonfluent and requires great effort because he cannot establish the proper motor command to articulate the desired words. This condition is known as expressive aphasia. 

McGuire PK, Shah GM, Murray RM. 1993. Increased blood flow in Broca s area during auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia. Lancet 342(8873) 703-706. 

Selemon LD, Mrzljak J, Kleinman JE, Herman MM, Goldman-Rakic PS. 2003. Regional specificity in the neuro-pathologic substrates of schizophrenia A morphometric analysis of Broca s area 44 and area 9. Arch Gen Psychiatry... 

The typical changes seen in all subtypes of FTD are atrophy of the prefrontal and anterior temporal neocortex. The subtype determines the distribution of the pathology. In FTD there is prominent bilateral and usually symmetrical involvement of the frontal lobes. In PNFA, atrophy is asymmetric, involving chiefly the left frontotemporal lobes, concentrated in Broca s area. In SD, atrophy is typically bilateral and is most marked in the anterior temporal neocortex, with inferior and middle temporal gyri being predominantly affected (Snowden et al., 2002). 

D. P. Corina, S. L. McBurney, C. Dodrill, K. Hinshaw, J. Brinkley, and G. Ojemann. 1999. Functional roles of broca s area and smg Evidence from cortical stimulation mapping in a deaf signer. Neuroimage 10 570-581. 

Similarly, specialized language functions map to specific regions of the cortex Broca s area, Wernicke s area, the arcuate fasciculus and the angular gyrus. While few have actually been mapped, it is reasonable to expect that a wide variety of uniquely human functions have speciaized, localized physical substrates in the brain. 

Figure 5.8 shows the major regions of auditory and language processing relative to common cortical landmarks. The primary auditory area is on the upper surface of the temporal lobe (not shown), but supplementary areas are located on the lateral temporal lobe. Broca s area is located in the posterior portion of the frontal lobe near the auditory regions in the temporal lobe. Wernicke s area is in the... 

Subset of young adults, Cincinnati Lead Study (N = 48) Language functions fMRI on 20—23 year-olds to test language function Higher mean PbB levels associated with reduced activation, Broca s area, in left hemisphere and increased activation in temporal lobe Yuan et al. (2006)... 

Corina D.P., McBurney S.L., DodriU C., Hinshaw K., Brinkley J., and Ojeman G. (1999). Functional roles of Broca s area and SMG evidence from cortical stimulation mapping in a deaf signer. Neuroimage... 

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