Carl Wernicke

Carl Wernicke
Born	15 May 1848 Tarnowitz, Upper Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia
Died	15 June 1905 (aged 56) Gräfenroda, German Empire
Fields	Physician
Alma mater	University of Breslau

Carl Wernicke (15 May 1848 – 15 June 1905) 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.

Studies in aphasia

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.

Eponyms

• Wernicke aphasia: the eponymous term for receptive or sensory aphasia. It is the inability to understand speech, or to produce meaningful speech, caused by lesions to the posterior superior temporal gyrus.
• Wernicke encephalopathy: an acute neurological syndrome of ophthalmoparesis, ataxia, and encephalopathy brought on by encephalopathy can occur combined with Korsakoff psychosis, which is a subacute dementia syndrome. It is then called the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.