Paul Broca | |
|---|---|
 Pierre Paul Broca | |
| Born | 28 June 1824 Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, Gironde, France |
| Died | 9 July 1880 (aged 56) |
| Nationality | French |
| Known for | Broca's area Broca's aphasia Diagonal band of Broca |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Anthropology Anatomy Medicine |
Pierre Paul Broca (/ˈbroʊkə/,[1][2][3] also UK: /ˈbrɒkə/, US: /ˈbroʊkɑː/,[4] French: [pɔl bʁɔka]; 28 June 1824 – 9 July 1880) was a French physician, anatomist and anthropologist. He is best known for his research on Broca's area, a region of the frontal lobe that is named after him. Broca's area is involved with language. His work revealed that the brains of patients with aphasia contained lesions in a particular part of the cortex, in the left frontal region. This was the first anatomical proof of localization of brain function.
Broca's work contributed to the development of physical anthropology, advancing the science of anthropometry,[5] and craniometry, in particular, the now-discredited practice of determining intelligence. He was engaged in comparative anatomy of primates and humans and proposed that Negroes were an intermediate form between apes and Europeans. He saw each racial group as its own species and believed racial mixing eventually led to sterility.
- ^ "Broca's area". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
- ^ "Broca's area". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022.
- ^ "Broca's area". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
- ^ "Broca's area". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
- ^ "Dr. Paul Broca". Science. 1 (8): 93. 21 August 1880. doi:10.1126/science.os-1.9.93. JSTOR 2900242. PMID 17795838.