Psychology2016

The Biological Perspective 81

have already been mentioned, much of the brain’s association cortex is in the frontal
lobes. Furthermore, some special association areas are worth talking about in more detail.

BROCA’S AREA In the left frontal lobe of most people is an area of the brain associated
with the production of speech. (In a small portion of the population, this area is in the
right frontal lobe.) More specifically, this area allows a person to speak smoothly and
fluently. It is called Broca’s area after nineteenth-century neurologist Paul Broca, who
first provided widely accepted clinical evidence that deficits in fluent and articulate
speech result from damage to this area (Finger, 1994). However, it appears that Broca’s
area is not responsible for the production of speech itself but rather for the interaction
between frontal, temporal, and motor areas responsible for speech production (Flinker
et al., 2015). Damage to Broca’s area causes a person to be unable to get words out in
a smooth, connected fashion. People with this condition may know exactly what they
want to say and understand what they hear others say, but they cannot control the actual
production of their own words. Speech is halting and words are often mispronounced,
such as saying “cot” instead of “clock” or “non” instead of “nine.” Some words may be
left out entirely, such as “the” or “for.” This is called Broca’s aphasia. Aphasia refers to
an inability to use or understand either written or spoken language (Goodglass et al.,
2001). (Stuttering is a somewhat different problem in getting words started rather than
mispronouncing them or leaving them out, but it may also be related to Broca’s area.)

WERNICKE’S AREA In the left temporal lobe (again, in most people) is an area called
Wernicke’s area, named after the physiologist and Broca’s contemporary, Carl Wernicke,
who first studied problems arising from damage in this location. This area of the brain
appears to be involved in understanding the meaning of words (Goodglass et al., 2001).
A person with Wernicke’s aphasia would be able to speak fluently and pronounce words
correctly, but the words would be the wrong ones entirely. For example, Elsie suffered a
stroke to the temporal lobe, damaging this area of the brain. As the ER nurse inflated a
blood pressure cuff, Elsie said, “Oh, that’s so Saturday hard.” Elsie thought she was mak-
ing sense. She also had trouble understanding what the people around her were saying
to her. In another instance, Ernest suffered a stroke at the age of 80 and also showed signs
of Wernicke’s aphasia. For example, he asked his wife to get him some milk out of the air
conditioner. Right idea, wrong word. To hear audio examples of aphasia, Listen to the
Audio File Broca’s Aphasia, and Listen to the Audio File Wernicke’s Aphasia.

Wernicke’s aphasia

condition resulting from damage to

Wernicke’s area, causing the affected

person to be unable to understand or

produce meaningful language.

Broca’s aphasia

condition resulting from damage to

Broca’s area, causing the affected per-

son to be unable to speak fluently, to

mispronounce words, and to speak

haltingly.

Classic Studies in Psychology

Through the Looking Glass—Spatial Neglect

Dr. V. S. Ramachandran reported in his fascinating book, Phantoms in the Brain ( Ramachandran

& Blakeslee, 1998), the case of a woman with an odd set of symptoms. When Ellen’s son

came to visit her, he was shocked and puzzled by his formerly neat and fastidious* mother’s

appearance. The woman who had always taken pride in her looks, who always had her hair

perfectly done and her nails perfectly manicured, looked messy and totally odd. Her hair was

uncombed on the left side. Her green shawl was hanging neatly over her right shoulder but

hanging onto the floor on the left. Her lipstick was neatly applied to the right side of her lips, and

only to the right side—the left side of her face was completely bare of makeup! Yet her eyeliner,

mascara, and blush were all neatly applied to the right side of her face.

What was wrong? The son called the doctor and was told that his mother’s stroke

had left her with a condition called spatial neglect, or unilateral neglect, in which a

person with damage to the right parietal and occipital lobes of the cortex will ignore

As this woman applies make-up to the right

side of her face, is she really “seeing” the left

side? If she has spatial neglect, the answer

is “no.” While her eyes work just fine, her

damaged right hemisphere refuses to notice

the left side of her visual field.

*fastidious: having demanding standards, difficult to please.