Carl Wernicke

Carl Wernicke (born 15 May 1848 in Tarnowitz, Upper Silesia, then Prussia, now Tarnowskie Góry, Poland – died 15 June 1905 in Gräfenroda, Germany) was a German physician, anatomist, psychiatrist and neuropathologist. He earned his medical degree at the University of Breslau (1870). He died in Germany due to injuries suffered during a bicycle accident.

Shortly after Paul Broca published his findings on language deficits caused by damage to what is now referred to as Broca's area, Wernicke began pursuing his own research into the effects of brain disease on speech and language. Wernicke noticed that not all language deficits were the result of damage to Broca's area. Rather he found that damage to the left posterior, superior temporal gyrus resulted in deficits in language comprehension. This region is now referred to as Wernicke's area, and the associated syndrome is known as Receptive aphasia, for his discovery.