Carl Wernicke

Carl Wernicke: Biography

Who was Carl Wernicke? Why was he important to psychology? Carl Wernicke was a German psychiatrist and a neurologist. Wernicke was most interested in speech pathology (problems with speaking) and furthered research on aphasia. But first, let’s lay out some background information about Carl Wernicke.

A photo of Carl Wernicke, commons.wikimedia.org

Carl Wernicke was born in Poland in 1848. Wernicke's father worked as a secretary for one of the town's officials. He wasn't very affectionate towards Carl and Carl's mother. However, his mother was soft-hearted towards Carl and very interested in his educational pursuits. Carl's mother hoped that he would study theology and become a minister (which was a very common career choice at the time).

Just before Carl went off to study at the University of Breslau, his father passed away. Despite his mother's wishes for him to study theology, Wernicke chose to begin his education in medicine. Before Wernicke took his state examinations, his mother also passed away.

Carl Wernicke's Education and Work

Carl studied medicine during his secondary education at Breslau University. After finishing school, Wernicke found a job as an assistant at the Ophthalmology Department at Breslau University. Wernicke served as an army surgeon during the France-Prussian war of 1870. Once the war was over, Wernicke returned to Breslau University as an assistant again, but this time he got to work in the psychiatry department.

Carl Wernicke: Interesting Facts

An interesting fact about Carl Wernicke is that he wore many hats in his pursuits of knowledge. This led him to become a neuropathologist, psychiatrist, anatomist, and physician. As his work progressed, Carl focused on the study of aphasiology (the study of aphasia) and was greatly inspired by Paul Broca's research as well. Resulting from his studies, Wernicke proposed a theory of localization of particular brain functions. Carl's work didn't stop there, however.

Carl's research gave him ample opportunities to publish his works, and he created three volumes combined. Carl attempted to relate neurological diseases to specific areas of the brain in his work titled Textbook of Brain Disorders between 1881 and 1883. Carl also co-founded an academic journal named the Monthly Journal of Psychology and Neurology in 1897. Sadly, Wernicke passed away on June 15th, 1905 from injuries due to a bicycle accident in a forest.

Carl Wernicke had many careers in his life, StudySmarter Original

Carl Wernicke's Theory

Wernick theorized that abnormalities could be concentrated in specific areas of the cerebral cortex, which means they can be used to determine the functions of these regions. This means that Wernicke wanted to be able to pinpoint specific areas of the brain and say what that area could do. Wernicke was one of the first scientists to map brain functions as being dependent on neural pathways (communication in our brain) that connect different areas of the brain to each other, with each area contributing a sensory-motor activity (such as a baby learning to crawl).

At the time, most scientists believed that the brain was functioning as a single organ. Wernicke demonstrated that either the right or left hemispheres of the brain dominated in performing functions. There was one such study that propelled Wernicke's work into history.

The Function of the Wernicke's Area

So, what discovery about the brain helped Wernicke create his theory? Around ten years after Broca's area of the brain was discovered and researched, Wernicke noticed another closely related problem in individuals who could speak but could not understand language. How was this possible?

In 1873, Wernicke studied a patient who had recently suffered a stroke. Wernicke noticed that the patient's hearing worked well, and he could also speak. The problem was that when the patient spoke, Wernicke could hardly understand anything being said to him, and the patient could also not understand any written words. Unfortunately, the patient died, but Wernicke studied his brain and found a lesion in the rear area (the rear parietal/temporal region) of his left brain hemisphere.

Location of the Wernicke area of the brain, common.wikimedi.org

Wernicke's Aphasia

So, what happens when there is damage to Wernicke's area? Carl documented the symptoms his patients were experiencing and put together a diagnosis called Wernicke's aphasia.

Individuals diagnosed with Wernicke's aphasia often produce speech that sounds normal and grammatically correct. But if you listen closely to what they say, the message would make hardly any sense at all. Even more, those affected by Wernicke's aphasia sometimes include made-up or irrelevant words in their sentences. What are all the symptoms that Wernicke was able to identify? Symptoms of Wernicke's aphasia include:

• The person does not know there is a problem with their speech
• The person may have trouble repeating phrases or words
• The person speaks in sentences that make no sense
• The person says words that have no meaning