Wernicke's area

With Wernicke's area, Wernicke's area or Wernicke's area an area is designated in the brain, forming the sensory speech center. It was named after the German neurologist Carl Wernicke (1848-1905), who described it in 1874 for the first time.

Anatomical location

After the division of Korbinian Brodmann the Wernicke's area is located in the posterior part of the area 22

The Wernicke's area is only in the dominant cerebral hemisphere ( ie, in the brain, in which the language both as a motor, as is also processed sensory), which is normally localized in right-handers the left, but there are left-handers on the left or right can.

Function

While in Wernicke's area auditory pulses are primarily integrated rational and there take place crucial processes for the understanding of language, using for example the understanding of music and its associated music (especially the non-rational component of what is heard is processed in the corresponding area on the opposite side of the brain more emotionally colored ) Associations have their origin there.

Afferents

Leads receives the Wernicke's area, especially from the primary auditory cortex.

Efferents

The Wernicke's area projected in numerous cortical association areas in which the heard undergoes a more integrative processing. Of particular note here are the compounds of Wernicke's speech center for motor speech center, which are produced by the arcuate fibers cerebri. Since the language education with the understanding of language is inseparable from, the motor speech center of his task can meet only in close cooperation with the Wernicke's area.

Damage

The complete or partial failure of the sensory speech center (ie, the Wernicke's region ) leads to sensory aphasia. Symptoms here are disorders of language comprehension that correlate with the degree of injury. Unlike a motor aphasia sufferers can mimic the speech sounds often limited, but they are not going to be able to also understand what is said, and therefore produce a " gibberish " that is neither the listener nor them of course.

Furthermore suffering from precipitation of Wernicke's area people are no longer capable of any auditory emissions attributable to their sources, they hear, for example, a helicopter flies over it, but have no idea that the rattling of the rotors is to be assigned.

Since not only the written and oral communication is linked indispensable to the Wernicke's area, but also makes use of most of our thinking of language tools, pathologies of sensory language center have usually also have a profound adverse effects on the personality of the patient result, under which these often suffer severely.

Swell

• Martin Trepel: Neuroanatomy - Structure and Function, Urban & Fischer, 3rd Edition 2004, Munich / Jena (ISBN 3-437-41297-3 )

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