Where did Wernicke find lesions in his patients?

• A. Posterior superior temporal gyrus in the left hemisphere
• B. Precentral gyrus in the left hemisphere
• C. Anterior cingulate in the right hemisphere
• D. Occipital cortex in the left hemisphere

Answer: (A)

Language comprehension is localized to the left posterior superior temporal gyrus. Wernicke connected receptive language deficits to lesions in this region after studying stroke patients, identifying the area that maps sounds to meaning. This left-hemisphere posterior temporal zone, later called Wernicke’s area, is essential for understanding spoken language; when it’s damaged, speech remains fluent but content is often nonsensical and comprehension is impaired, a pattern known as Wernicke’s aphasia. This stands in contrast to lesions in the frontal region around the inferior frontal gyrus (Broca’s area), which cause nonfluent speech with relatively preserved comprehension. Regions like the precentral gyrus, anterior cingulate, or occipital cortex don’t produce the classic receptive language deficits Wernicke described.