• Question: what part of the brain is it , that enables us to be able to speak?Why?

    Asked by drstilesjlstermerrygold98 to Damien, Rachael, Simon, Suzi, Tim on 19 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Tim Fosker

      Tim Fosker answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Hi @ drstilesjlstermerrygold98

      No single part of the brain is involved in speech (by speech I mean producing speech, as producing speech and understanding speech are quite different).

      There is one classical area of the brain involved in speech called Broca’s area, which is involved in the motor aspects of producing speech. However, in the last 10-15 years many new discoveries have been made about how the brain controls speech production. Both the production and understanding of speech seems to involve a network of areas in the left and right sides of the brain.

      More and more research is showing that connections throughout many different areas of the brain are important for producing and understanding speech.

      I hope that answers your question.

    • Photo: Suzi Gage

      Suzi Gage answered on 18 Jun 2011:

      Hi @drstilesjlstermerrygold98

      Broca’s area is in the left hand side of the brain, in fact most of the ‘language’ parts of the brain are on the left (although as Tim points out, both sides of the brain are important). Broca’s area is fairly far forward, sort of just above your ear.

      Another important area is Wernicke’s area, which is a bit further back than Broca’s area. Wernicke’s area seems pretty important in storing the meanings of words.

      Hope this helps 🙂

    • Photo: Damien Hall

      Damien Hall answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      You asked a question about language, so you probably thought a linguist would answer it! But this is a good demonstration of the fact that a lot of areas of science can be looked at from more than one angle, by people with more than one speciality. I study language as it is produced, but don’t look at the structure of the brain much at all, or at what each part does – that’s much more Tim’s and Suzi’s bag! So I’m a linguist, and this question is about language (in a way), but I still can’t add anything to what Tim and Suzi have said.

Comments