What is the Wernicke's area & does it affect your ability to speak?

Wernicke's area is the area of the brain responsible mostly for understanding language or speech comprehension but also for language development as well. It is located in the temporal lobe of the left brain.

People with damage in the Wernicke's area have this so-called "expressive aphasia" wherein the patient can speak words and sentences, but these sentences are made up of mixed up, nonsensical words or "word salad".

The Wernicke's area is intimately related to Broca's area, which is the area of the brain responsible for language and speech production, rather than comprehension.