Revisiting the contributions of Paul Broca to the study of aphasia. 2011

Ronald M Lazar, and J P Mohr
Stanley Tananbaum Stroke Center, Neurological Institute of Columbia University Medical Center, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, 710 W. 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA. ral22@columbia.edu

There are few iconic publications in the annals of clinical neuroscience that have had the impact of Paul Broca's 1861 paper that appeared in the Bulletin de la Société Anatomique Broca (Bulletin Society Anatomique, 6:330-357, 1861). It was, however, by no means his last word on the matter of language localization, specifically, or on the overarching principle of regional specialization of brain function. Thus we comment on English translations of two of his works: the original paper and another from 1865. Although the 1861 paper has received the most credit, his manuscript 4 years later and based on a much larger case series was the first to state based on empirical observation that the left frontal region was responsible for articulated speech. Moreover, his observations of aphasia recovery reported in this later work led to his own hypotheses on the importance of cerebral reorganization after injury and to the differences in reacquisition of adult language vis-à-vis the nature of initial language development that were verified a century later. He also proposed a method of language remediation whose efficacy was not established for another 100 years. Thus Broca's contributions to the contemporary study of aphasia reach far beyond his initial case presentation.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D005625 Frontal Lobe The part of the cerebral hemisphere anterior to the central sulcus, and anterior and superior to the lateral sulcus. Brodmann Area 8,Brodmann's Area 8,Frontal Cortex,Frontal Eye Fields,Lobus Frontalis,Supplementary Eye Field,Area 8, Brodmann,Area 8, Brodmann's,Brodmanns Area 8,Cortex, Frontal,Eye Field, Frontal,Eye Field, Supplementary,Eye Fields, Frontal,Frontal Cortices,Frontal Eye Field,Frontal Lobes,Lobe, Frontal,Supplementary Eye Fields
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001039 Aphasia, Broca An aphasia characterized by impairment of expressive LANGUAGE (speech, writing, signs) and relative preservation of receptive language abilities (i.e., comprehension). This condition is caused by lesions of the motor association cortex in the FRONTAL LOBE (BROCA AREA and adjacent cortical and white matter regions). Agrammatism,Aphasia, Motor,Aphasia, Nonfluent,Broca Aphasia,Dysphasia, Broca,Agrammatic Broca Aphasia,Agrammatic Broca's Aphasia,Aphasia, Anterior,Aphasia, Ataxic,Aphasia, Expressive,Aphasia, Frontocortical,Dysphasia, Broca's,Verbal Aphasia Syndrome,Agrammatic Broca Aphasias,Agrammatic Broca's Aphasias,Agrammatic Brocas Aphasia,Anterior Aphasia,Anterior Aphasias,Aphasia Syndrome, Verbal,Aphasia Syndromes, Verbal,Aphasia, Agrammatic Broca,Aphasia, Agrammatic Broca's,Aphasias, Agrammatic Broca,Aphasias, Agrammatic Broca's,Aphasias, Anterior,Aphasias, Ataxic,Aphasias, Broca,Aphasias, Frontocortical,Ataxic Aphasia,Ataxic Aphasias,Broca Aphasia, Agrammatic,Broca Aphasias,Broca Aphasias, Agrammatic,Broca Dysphasia,Broca's Aphasia, Agrammatic,Broca's Aphasias, Agrammatic,Broca's Dysphasia,Dysphasia, Brocas,Expressive Aphasia,Frontocortical Aphasia,Frontocortical Aphasias,Motor Aphasia,Nonfluent Aphasia,Syndrome, Verbal Aphasia,Syndromes, Verbal Aphasia,Verbal Aphasia Syndromes
D049672 History, 19th Century Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era. 19th Century History,19th Cent. History (Medicine),19th Cent. History of Medicine,19th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 19th Century,History of Medicine, 19th Cent.,History, Nineteenth Century,Medical History, 19th Cent.,Medicine, 19th Cent.,19th Cent. Histories (Medicine),19th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 19th (Medicine),Cent. History, 19th (Medicine),Century Histories, 19th,Century Histories, Nineteenth,Century History, 19th,Century History, Nineteenth,Histories, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 19th Century,Histories, Nineteenth Century,History, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Nineteenth Century Histories,Nineteenth Century History

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