2-Minute Neuroscience: Broca's Area Video Lecture | A-Z Guide to Neuroscience - Personal Learning

Welcome to 2 minute neuroscience, where I
explain neuroscience topics in 2 minutes or
less.
In this installment I will discuss Broca’s
area.
Although the anatomical definitions of Broca’s
area are not completely consistent, it is
generally considered to make up some part
of a region called the inferior frontal gyrus,
which is found in the frontal lobe.
In the vast majority of individuals, Broca’s
area resides in the left cerebral hemisphere.
Broca’s area was named for the physician
Paul Broca, who first identified the region
as playing a potentially important role in
speech production.
Broca based this hypothesis on case studies
of patients who had damage to the area and
also displayed a deficit of speech.
The particular condition Broca observed came
to be known as Broca’s aphasia, and involves
a deficit in the ability to produce language.
In patients with Broca’s aphasia, reading
and writing are also often impaired, but language
comprehension is typically relatively preserved.
The precise role of Broca’s area in language
production, however, is still being debated.
In other words, damage to Broca’s area can
disrupt language production, but nobody is
quite sure exactly what language-related function
is lost to cause that disruption.
Some have hypothesized Broca's area is involved
with producing movements (like of the tongue
and mouth) that allow speech to be produced.
Others have argued it is involved with syntax,
grammar, verbal working memory, or all of
the above....Broca’s area is also thought
to have a variety of other linguistic and
non-linguistic functions.
It has been recognized as playing an important
role in language comprehension, movement,
and even understanding the movement or actions
of others.
Thus, although Broca’s area does appear
to play a role in language, the overall function
seems to be more complex.