Wernicke's area

n. Wernicke's area coresponds to the auditory association area involved in language recognition, usually found in the left hemisphere. In 1874 Wernicke described that damage in the left temporal lobe resulted in a language defect (aphasia) characterized by difficulties in language understanding, word-finding deficits, paraphasias (wrongly produced words), and disturbances in verbal memory, whereas language production was fluent, grammar was preserved (and even overused), and no associated speech defects (dysarthria) were observed. This type of aphasia is usually known as Wernicke's aphasia, or sensory aphasia, or receptive aphasia. Wernicke's area is considered to be the brain area responsible for Wernicke's aphasia. Nonetheless, Wernicke's aphasia is a rather variable syndrome, and the limits of Wernicke's area are controversial. Different authors describe Wernicke's area not completely coincidentally: some authors only include the posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus (Brodmann's area 22); some authors include the superior and middle temporal gyri; and others even include the angular gyrus of the parietal lobe in Wernicke's area. – AA