Broca’s Area is a region in the dominant (usually left) frontal lobe of the brain, classically located in the posterior inferior frontal gyrus (Brodmann areas 44 and 45), that is critically involved in speech production and expressive language. The French neurologist Paul Broca first identified this area in the 19th century when he observed that patients with damage to this region had profound difficulties in speaking (non-fluent, halting speech) while often still understanding language – a condition now known as Broca’s aphasia. Neuroscientific research indicates that Broca’s area is not only important for articulating words, but also for language planning, grammar, syntax, and coordinating the motor aspects of speech; it even has some role in comprehension of complex sentences.
Damage to Broca’s area (for example, from a stroke in the left frontal lobe) typically results in expressive aphasia, where a person knows what they want to say but struggles to produce fluent speech – SLPs provide therapy to such individuals, focusing on improving their word-finding, sentence formulation, and speech clarity.
Stinnett, Taylor J., Vamsi Reddy, and Matthew K. Zabel. “Neuroanatomy, Broca Area.” In StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing (2023).
Flinker, Adeen, Anna Korzeniewska, Adriana M. Shestyuk, et al. “Redefining the Role of Broca’s Area in Speech.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2015).
