Broca's area
1
7.1
- noun
- /ˈbroʊkəz ˈɛəriə/
- Specialized
:
área de Broca
- Injuries to Broca's area can lead to difficulties in producing coherent speech and forming sentences.
Examples
-
Broca's area produces spoken speech.
Academic text (2010) -
Next, secondary motor control functions deteriorate, producing both the onset of palsy and severe tissue damage to Broca's area, the part of the brain that is the center of speech.
Fiction book (1995) -
OK, so here is Broca's area that we know is concerned with speech output.
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If another part of the brain important for language, called Broca's area, is damaged, a very different disruption to speech occurs.
Academic text (2010) -
She has a weak left inferior frontal gyrus, for example, which includes the famous Broca's area for language.
Blog text (21) -
Wernicke's area is associated with hearing, whereas Broca's area is associated with the neurons that activate the muscles of the larynx.
Academic text (2010) -
Until recently, most professional sources have attributed our proficiency with language to a pair of knuckle-sized regions on the brain's left side called Broca's area and Wernicke's area.
Academic text (2008) -
Her Broca's area (located in the left frontal lobe) has come "online" and is driving her to practice using the muscles of the jaw, tongue, lips, and diaphragm to communicate.
Blog text (19) -
The brain's Broca's area is located in the left frontal lobe and is responsible for the motor aspects of speech production.
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Scientists study Broca's area to understand how the brain manages speech and language processing.
Synonyms
A part of the left front of the brain that helps you move your mouth to speak
Part of the left front of the brain that controls the muscles used for speaking and helps make words
A part of the brain usually on the left side that helps you speak
A part of the left front of the brain that helps you speak
Surface Forms
Morphology
Broca's + area
This is an eponymous medical term: 'Broca's' is a possessive proper name (referring to Paul Broca) and 'area' only indicates a region. A B1 learner who knows the words 'Broca's' (or simply the possessive form) and 'area' would not be able to infer the specific brain region or its role in speech production without prior exposure or specialist knowledge, so the meaning is not derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
Broca's area is named after the French doctor Paul Broca, who found a patient who could not 'speak' because a small part of the left front of his brain was damaged. Because that small area controls the movements needed for 'speech', scientists kept the name and now use Broca's area to mean the brain part that helps produce words.