Wernicke's area

[wur-ni-kuhz air-ee-uh, vair-ni-keez]

noun

Anatomy.

1. a portion of the left posterior temporal lobe of the brain, including the posterior of the superior temporal gyrus and adjacent areas, and associated with the ability to understand words.

Wernicke's area

1. An area located in the rear of the left temporal lobe of the brain. It is associated with the ability to recognize and understand spoken language. It is named for its discoverer, German neurologist and psychologist Carl Wernicke (1848–1905).

Word History and Origins

Origin of Wernicke's area¹

First recorded in 1905–10; after German neurologist Karl Wernicke (1848–1905), who discovered it

Example Sentences

In the second stage, the network was trained to reproduce Broca's area, which, under the influence of Wernicke's area, is responsible for producing and articulating words.

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In the first stage of the experiment, the neuroscientists trained this network to simulate Wernicke's area, the part of our brain that enables us to perceive and interpret language.

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Inspired by those deeply jarring reverberations and his family’s own experience, Boss then began piecing together an installation, “The Wernicke’s Area,” which is named after the part of the brain involved in understanding speech.

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The procedure was successful — the tumor was removed from her brain’s Wernicke’s area — but there were some side effects: The former soprano developed epilepsy and also now finds communication challenging.

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For all involved, the first performance of “The Wernicke’s Area” was an extremely moving experience, particularly for the Boss family.

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