Friday, September 13, 2013

How to remember the difference between Wernicke's area and Broca's area

Hola!
We'll be learning about the Wernicke's area and Broca's areas of the cerebral cortex!

Let's get started <3

What is Broca's area?
It is the motor speech area.
Motor? Yeah, it helps in movements required to produce speech.

What is Wernicke's area?
It is the sensory speech area.
Sensory? Yes, it helps you understand speech.
It also helps in usage of correct words to express our thoughts.


Where is Broca's area located?
Broca's area is located in the frontal lobe.
(Frontal lobe also contains the general motor and premotor areas, so it's easy to make the association!)

Where is Wernicke's area located?
Wernicke's area is located in the parietal and temporal lobe.
(Parietal lobe also contains the general sensory area, gustatory area for taste sensation.. So it's easy to remember sensory speech area is located in the Parietal lobe!)

What is Broca's aphasia?
It is expressive aphasia (non-fluent aphasia).
Loss of the ability to produce language (spoken or written).
Patient have insight to their problem and are frustrated.

(Broca is broke.
Speaks broken words.
He is also frustrated because he is broke.)

What is Wernicke's aphasia?
It is receptive aphasia (fluent aphasia)
Inablity to understand language (written or spoken form)
They can not use correct words to express thoughts.
When they speak, they think they know what they are saying but a bunch of random words come out.
Patient is unaware of his problem.

Wernicke's like What?
Wernicke's is all confused.
Makes Word salads for a living. (Not broke :P )

Here's a diagram to help you picture it :)

Broca's and Wernicke's area mnemonic

That's all!

This is a diagram I made when I was in high school on the functional areas of the cerebral cortex. I found it and when I looked at it, I was amazed to see how beautifully I had shaded and labelled the areas. It has faded out and looks hazy now but it's a piece of me, and I wanted to share it with you <3

Functional areas of cerebral cortex

What the labels read in the diagram:
Frontal lobe
1) General motor area
2) Premotor area
3) Motor speech area/Broca's area
4) Association area
Parietal lobe
5) General sensory area (somaesthetic area)
6) Sensory speech area or Wernicke's area
7) Gustatory area
8) Association area
Occipital lobe
9) Visual area and Association visual area
Temporal lobe
10) Auditory area
11) Olfactory area

-IkaN

*sings*
'Cause you are the piece of me I wish I didn't need
Chasing relentlessly, still fight and I don't know why
If our love is tragedy, why are you my remedy?
If our love's insanity, why are you my clarity?

90 comments:

  1. This is awesome!! Thanks so much for sharing :) I love drawings & funny sayings to help me remember things! You're awesome

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aww you are just like me.. That makes you awesome too! <3 You're welcome :)

      Delete
  2. This is awesome!!! I am not going to forget this now. :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you so much for making this, it's really helpful :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for this awesome post. It's deserving of the #1 spot when Googling Broca's vs Wernicke's mnemonic.

      Delete
    2. Aww thank you so much <3
      Best. Comment. Ever.

      Delete
  4. Thank you this was so helpful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Best answer on Google! Simplified so we can understand the differences.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks this was very good!

    ReplyDelete
  7. thank you so much! this really made it easier! help appreciated! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. hi! Really enjoyed this. You made things entertainingly memorable!
    But if I may ask something, are you certain that Broca's area has a motor function? I haven't been able to find any second opinion on this. That's all. Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you ^__^

      Yes, I am certain. You can Google "Broca's motor speech area" and it'll clear your doubts!

      Here's something from Britannica -
      Broca area, also called convolution of Broca, region of the brain that contains "motor neurons" involved in the control of speech.
      Source: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/135877/Broca-area

      Delete
  9. very very helpful!! thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very nice a simple! Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  11. hey...thanku so much..this will surely help me and others in learing a lot of stuff that we often forget... keep it up..!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for the compliments. Glad I could be of help! ^__^

      Delete
  12. This is fabulous, it really helped me with studying for my exam. Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete
  13. SUPER HELPFUL! I always forget the difference and this is an awesome way to remember it. Thank you :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you for simplifying this. I have a friend with a tumor in the Wernicke's area and now one is near the Broca's area (left side). This has helped explain to friends and family who are not medical what is happening and what to expect. This will help us all prepare. thank you again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am so sorry. It must be a hard thing to go through.

      Let me know if you have any other questions, I'll simplify and explain it to you as best I can.

      Delete
  15. This is amazing. Thank you.
    And your B is broke, W asks why (is confused) drawing is super helpful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, right? I gave emotions to alphabets! :P
      Nice to know you liked it :D

      Delete
  16. Thanks for posting your notes! Sending Good karma your way

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm studying for the midterms of our medsurg exam for neurologic system and I had to know these differences! Our teacher did not explain this clearly to us so i am happy to stumble on your page because you have shared pictures, too! - Nursing student dying

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yaay! I'm so glad I was clear enough and the diagrams made a difference! Happy to help ^^

      Stay alive and save lives, sweet nursing student! :)

      Delete
  18. Studying for Neurogenic disorders (speech pathology) midterm-- this surely helped! Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I was so confused between both, thanks a lot, I went over a lot of journals but nothing was as simple as this.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm having finals tomorrow, so this was a really useful summary! x

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thank you for this! I always get confused when it comes to Broca and Wernicke. :) Your drawings and sayings actually helped..

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thank you so much, you are a life saver, information here is so useful in psychology classes

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha well, I hope you save lives in real through this, psychology student!

      You're most welcome :D

      Delete
  23. Good job. In included a link to your blog in a PPT for my students in an UG Cognitive Psychology Class.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wow! It helped me for Neurolinguitics, too.

    ReplyDelete
  25. As simply braco area deals with language processed in Wernicke's area.language means both written and speech
    Nice it works

    ReplyDelete
  26. You SAVED me! Really am loving this site :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. nice and simple...excellent.thank you dear

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thank you for taking the time to do this! Found it informative and helpful. #lifesaver

    ReplyDelete
  29. This also helps for MCAT2015 review!! Thank you!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thanks very much for this fabulous write-up #IkaN. This has helped me to do my assignment in Neurolinguistics. #PhDstudent.

    ReplyDelete
  31. THUMBS UP FOR SHARING IT AND NOT KEEPING THAT PIECE OF ART HIDDEN OR THROWN IN SOME TRASHCAN!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  32. You're just so amazing! :O :D

    ReplyDelete
  33. This site is quite useful.
    btw,how could i share knowledge in this site?
    plz help me

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you want to share your notes / mnemonics on medicowesome? You can just email medicowesome@gmail.com

      Delete
  34. Thanks a lot. Was struggling to memorize all the symptoms. Glad that I found this. Thanks for your good deeds. <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad it helped. Thank you for all the wishes and prayers! <3

      Delete
  35. This was an amazing read ... i wish I had found it before.. neuro is too difficult ... i loved the written notes

    ReplyDelete
  36. Wernike: words --> thought
    Brocas: backwords... thought --> words

    ReplyDelete
  37. The statement above is false.

    WERNICKES AREA IS LOCATED IN THE TEMPORAL LOBE!!!!

    NOT THE PARIETAL LOBE!!! Dont get an important question wrong!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wernicke's area is located in the parietal AND temporal lobe.

      Delete
  38. its really helpful thanks Alot <3

    ReplyDelete

This is express yourself space. Where you type create something beautiful! <3
Wondering what do I write? Well...
Tell us something you know better. You are a brilliant mind. Yes, you are! ^__^
Ask about something you don't understand @_@?
Compliment... Say something nice! =D
Be a good critic and correct us if something went wrong :|
Go ahead. Comment all you like here! (:

PS: We have moderated comments to reduce spam. ALL comments that are not spam will be published on the website.