Redefining Wernicke's Area: Receptive Language and Discourse Semantics

Journal of Allied Health, Summer 2007 by Tanner, Dennis C

I hold it true, whate'er befall,

I feel it, when I sorrow most,

'Tis better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all.

To propose that Wernicke's area of the brain, this small mass of brain cells and the tracts leading to and from it, is the center for verbal understanding when decoding Tennyson's in Memariam is inexact and inaccurate. True understanding of substantive discourse is the highest cognitive process to which a person can aspire. Wernicke's area is not the center of auditory understanding; it is simply an important conduit to the all-encompassing process (Table 2). A more accurate definition of Wernicke's area is as follows: region in the temporal-parietal lobe of the cerebrum important to understanding oral language; a cortical conduit corresponding approximately to Brodmann areas 22, 39, 40, 41, and 42.

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Dennis C. Tanner, PhD

Dr. Tanner is Professor of Health Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ.

This article is based in part on An Advanced Course in Communication Sciences and Disorders by Dennis C. Tanner (San Diego, CA: Plural Publishing; 2006).

Received October 8, 2005; revision accepted February 14, 2006.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Dennis C. Tanner, PhD, Department of Health Sciences, Box 15095, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011. e-mail dennis.tanner@nau.edu.