Medical Dictionary

Broca's aphasia

noun Bro·ca's aphasia \(ˌ)brō-ˌkäz-, ˌbrō-kəz-\

Medical Definition of BROCA'S APHASIA

Biographical Note for BROCA'S APHASIA

Bro·ca \br-kȧ\ , Pierre–Paul (1824–1880), French surgeon and anthropologist. One of the great French anthropologists, Broca founded modern craniometry and made extensive comparative studies of the craniums and brains of the races of humankind. In 1861 he announced his discovery that the center of articulate speech is usually in the third left frontal convolution of the brain—an area now most commonly known as Broca's area. His discovery furnished the first anatomical proof of localization of brain function. He associated loss of the power of speech with brain lesions, a condition that is now commonly termed motor aphasia or Broca's aphasia.

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