Broca's Area

Broca’s area is the portion of the brain in charge of speech, language processing and comprehension, and controlling facial neurons. We know this, and much more concerning the Central Nervous System, thanks to Dr. Paul Pierre Broca who made these discoveries over one hundred and fifty years ago.

Pierre Paul Broca was born in 1824 to parents who initially would not allow Broca to pursue an academic career. However, with the immense success he gained while completing his studies, his mother agreed to permit him to pursue his passion in academics. After years of rigorous study and close workings with highly reputable doctors, in 1849, he was declared doctor of medicine and his accomplishments continued to pile up. A few of his accomplishments include describing muscular dystrophy as a main condition of muscle and rickets as a nutritional illness. Dr. Broca was also actively involved in promoting public health and public education, learning more about infant mortality, and military service for the armed forces of France. As well, he was actively involved in introducing the microscope which aided in the diagnosis of cancer. Following countless awards and promotions to higher positions within the realm of medicine, in 1867, Dr. Broca was summoned to the chair of surgery at the Faculty of Medicine.

From Broca’s career, the discovery of localization of brain function stands out far above the rest. His knowledge was gained after studying the brain of a speech impaired patient after his death. Tan, the patient studied, is now well-known in the medical field because it was his brain that lent us a wealth of knowledge. Thanks to Tan’s brain we know that the area of the brain accountable for speech processing, language comprehension, language production, and the control of facial nerves are located in the left hemisphere of the brain. This region is named after Dr. Broca and is referred to as Broca’s area.

When damage is done to Broca’s area, it is known as Broca’s aphasia. According to the National Aphasia Association, “Aphasia is an impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write.” The most frequent reason that brain injury, and thus aphasia, occurs is due to a stroke, head trauma, or brain tumors. Severity of damage can vary from inability to retrieve words, combine words, read, or multiple impairments of communication can be present. Over the past hundred years,