Group · one in each half of the brain
Broca's area
Also called Brodmann areas 44 and 45, Part of the left inferior frontal gyrus
Where thoughts become speech: the famous language region discovered in 1861.
Broca's area is a region in the lower part of the frontal lobe that is key for producing language. It helps turn ideas into words, put words in the right order and plan the mouth movements of speech. In most people it does this mainly on the left side of the brain. It was one of the first brain areas ever linked to a specific ability, a turning point in brain science.
Where it is
In the lower part of the frontal lobe, just above the side groove of the brain, roughly under your temple. In most people the language version is on the left side.
What it does
Producing speech
It plans the sequences of sounds and mouth movements needed to say words.
Building sentences
It helps put words in the right order and handle grammar, especially in long or tricky sentences.
Finding words
It helps you pull the right word out of memory when you need it.
Sign language too
It matters for signing as well as for speaking. Deaf signers with damage here can have trouble producing sign language.
Think of it as the brain's speechwriter and choreographer: it arranges your words into sentences and plans the dance of lips and tongue that says them out loud.
Inside Broca's area
- Pars opercularisThe back half of Broca's area: planning the sounds and structure of speech.
- Pars triangularisThe triangle-shaped front of Broca's area: fetching words and their meanings.
Works with
- Arcuate fasciculusThis curved fiber cable links it to language areas in the temporal lobe, so what you hear and what you say stay in sync.
- Superior temporal gyrusWernicke's area, at the back of this gyrus, helps understand words, while Broca's area helps produce them.
- Primary motor cortexIt sends its speech plans to the face, lip and tongue part of the motor strip, which moves the muscles.
- InsulaThe front of the insula works with it on speech, though how much the insula helps plan mouth movements is still debated.
- Supramarginal gyrusThis parietal area works with it to hold speech sounds in mind, like when you repeat a new word.
When it goes wrong
Broca's aphasia
After a stroke here and in the surrounding area, people may speak slowly and with great effort, in short phrases that leave out small words. They usually understand much of what is said to them and are aware of their speech problems, which can be very frustrating.
The power of song
Some people who cannot speak fluently after a stroke can still sing the words of familiar songs. Therapists sometimes use melody and rhythm to help them regain speech.
For learning only, not medical advice. If you have a health concern, talk to a doctor.
Surprising facts
- One of Broca's two historic patients, Leborgne, had lost almost all ability to speak.
- Leborgne's brain is still preserved. Scans in 2007 showed that his damage reached much deeper than the area Broca described, a reminder that speech relies on a whole network.
- In about 95% of right-handed people, and in most left-handed people, language relies mainly on the left side of the brain.
Where the name comes from
Named after Pierre Paul Broca, a French doctor who in 1861 described a patient who had lost the ability to speak, and found damage in this part of his brain after his death.
Learn it in a lesson
- LanguageHearing, understanding, speaking, reading. A short guided lesson in 3D.
Quick quiz
3 questions. Your answers are saved and come back in your daily review.
Which of these is a job of Broca's area?
Show the answer
Producing speech. It plans the sequences of sounds and mouth movements needed to say words.
Producing speech. It plans the sequences of sounds and mouth movements needed to say words.
Broca's area is part of which larger structure?
Show the answer
Frontal lobe. It belongs to the frontal lobe.
Frontal lobe. It belongs to the frontal lobe.
Which part fits this description? "Like the brain's speechwriter and choreographer: it arranges your words into sentences and plans the dance of lips and tongue that says them out loud."
Show the answer
Broca's area. It is Broca's area. Where thoughts become speech: the famous language region discovered in 1861.
Broca's area. It is Broca's area. Where thoughts become speech: the famous language region discovered in 1861.
These parts now come back in your daily review, just before you would forget them.
Practice these parts in 3DSources
- Broca's area, Radiopaedia
- Aphasia, StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf
- Paul Broca's historic cases: high resolution MR imaging of the brains of Leborgne and Lelong, Brain (Oxford Academic)
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Explore Broca's area in 3D
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