Wernicke’s Aphasia
Wernicke’s aphasia is a language disorder caused by damage to Wernicke’s Area in the temporal lobe.
Why is Wernicke's aphasia theoretically important?
Speech production stays fluent while comprehension collapses, evidence that language production and comprehension are separable abilities.
- Speech is fluent and well-formed, but meaningless: words flow, but they don’t cohere
- Comprehension is badly impaired
- Syntax is more preserved than meaning
Also called receptive aphasia: the problem is getting language in.
Related
- Broca’s Aphasia (the classic double dissociation partner)