Mr. Sal demonstrates reduced speech intelligibility; which lobe and cortical area are most likely affected?

• A. Frontal lobe - Broca's area
• B. Temporal lobe - Wernicke's area
• C. Parietal lobe - angular gyrus
• D. Occipital lobe - primary visual cortex

Answer: (A)

Reduced speech intelligibility points to a problem with producing clear, articulate speech, which is the job of Broca's area in the frontal lobe. Broca's area, in the dominant hemisphere, controls language production and speech planning; when it’s damaged, speech becomes halting, telegraphic, and effortful, while understanding remains relatively intact. Damage to Wernicke's area in the temporal lobe would primarily disrupt comprehension and produce fluent but often nonsensical speech. The angular gyrus in the parietal lobe is more about language integration, reading, and writing, not primary speech production. The primary visual cortex in the occipital lobe handles vision, not language. So the most likely affected region is the frontal lobe, specifically Broca's area.