Wernicke’s Area

By: Joey Watson

Wernicke's area:

a part of the human brain that forms part of the cortex, on the left posterior section of the superior temporal gyrus, encircling the auditory cortex, on the Sylvian fissure (part of the brain where the temporal lobe and parietal lobe meet).

It is usually located in the left hemisphere as that is where the specialized language skill areas can be found for the majority of people.

Wernicke's area is named after Karl Wernicke, a German neurologist and psychiatrist

In 1874 he discovered that damage to this area could cause a type of aphasia that is now called Wernicke’s aphasia or receptive aphasia

Aphasia results in impairment of language comprehension