[[Image:BrocasAreaSmall.png|right|frame|Approximate location of Wernicke's area highlighted in gray]]
[[Image:BrocasAreaSmall.png|right|frame|Approximate location of Wernicke's area highlighted in gray]]
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'''Wernicke's area''' is a part of the [[human brain]] that forms part of the [[cortex]], on the left posterior section of the [[superior temporal gyrus]], posterior to the primary [[auditory cortex]], on the temporo-parietal junction (part of the brain where the [[temporal lobe]] and [[parietal lobe]] meet).
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'''Wernicke's area''' is a part of the [[human brain]] that forms part of the [[cortex]], on the left posterior section of the [[superior temporal gyrus]], posterior to the primary [[auditory cortex|audaitory cortex]], on the temporo-parietal junction (part of the brain where the [[temporal lobe]] and [[parietal lobe]] meet).
It can also be described as the posterior part of [[Brodmann area]] [[Brodmann area 22|22]].
It can also be described as the posterior part of [[Brodmann area]] [[Brodmann area 22|22]].
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It is usually located in the left [[Cerebral hemisphere|hemisphere]], as the majority of people have brain areas specialized for [[language]] skills located on the left.
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It is usually located in the left [[Cerebral hemisphere|hemisphere]], as the majority of people have brain areas specialized for [[language]] skills located on the left.
It is named after [[Karl Wernicke]], a [[Germany|German]] [[neurologist]] and [[psychiatrist]] who in [[1874]] discovered that damage to this area could cause a type of [[aphasia]] (now called Wernicke's aphasia or [[receptive aphasia]]), which results in an impairment of language comprehension, and speech that has a natural-sounding rhythm but a jumbled syntax without recognisable meaning (a condition sometimes called ''fluent'' or ''jargon aphasia'').
It is named after [[Karl Wernicke]], a [[Germany|German]] [[neurologist]] and [[psychiatrist]] who in [[1874]] discovered that damage to this area could cause a type of [[aphasia]] (now called Wernicke's aphasia or [[receptive aphasia]]), which results in an impairment of language comprehension, and speech that has a natural-sounding rhythm but a jumbled syntax without recognisable meaning (a condition sometimes called ''fluent'' or ''jargon aphasia'').
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This area is also one of the affected in [[schizophrenia]].
This area is also one of the affected in [[schizophrenia]].
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It is connected to [[Broca's area]] by a neural pathway called the [[arcuate fasciculus]].
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It is connected to [[Broca's area]] by a neural pathway called the [[arcuate fasciculus]].agdag
It can also be described as the posterior part of Brodmann area22.
It is usually located in the left hemisphere, as the majority of people have brain areas specialized for language skills located on the left.
It is named after Karl Wernicke, a Germanneurologist and psychiatrist who in 1874 discovered that damage to this area could cause a type of aphasia (now called Wernicke's aphasia or receptive aphasia), which results in an impairment of language comprehension, and speech that has a natural-sounding rhythm but a jumbled syntax without recognisable meaning (a condition sometimes called fluent or jargon aphasia).
Wernicke's work initiated the study of this brain area and its role in language. It is particularly known to be involved in the understanding and comprehension of spoken language.
This area is also one of the affected in schizophrenia.
Added by Lifeartist