Broca's area

Broca's area
Broca's area is made up of Brodmann areas 44 (pars opercularis) and 45 (pars triangularis)
Broca's area (shown in red)
Details
Part of	Frontal lobe
Artery	Middle cerebral
Vein	Superior sagittal sinus
Identifiers
NeuroNames	ancil-251
NeuroLex ID	242176 Broca's area
Dorlands /Elsevier	a_59/12150965
FMA	242176
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy []

Broca's area or the Broca area /broʊˈkɑː/ or /ˈbroʊkə/ is a region in the frontal lobe of the dominant hemisphere (usually the left) of the hominid brain with functions linked to speech production.

Language processing has been linked to Broca's area since Pierre Paul Broca reported impairments in two patients. They had lost the ability to speak after injury to the posterior inferior frontal gyrus of the brain. Since then, the approximate region he identified has become known as Broca's area, and the deficit in language production as Broca's aphasia, also called expressive aphasia. Broca's area is now typically defined in terms of the pars opercularis and pars triangularis of the inferior frontal gyrus, represented in Brodmann's cytoarchitectonic map as areas 44 and 45 of the dominant hemisphere. Studies of chronic aphasia have implicated an essential role of Broca's area in various speech and language functions. Further, fMRI studies have also identified activation patterns in Broca's area associated with various language tasks. However, slow destruction of the Broca's area by brain tumors can leave speech relatively intact suggesting its functions can shift to nearby areas in the brain.