nineteenthcenturytxt

During the last half of the nineteenth century, Romberg (1850) at
autopsy sought sites of damage in the brain that caused language
disorders. Broca (1861) discovered the brain area responsible for
speech production in the motor cortex, and Wernicke (1874) the area for
speech reception in the temporal lobes. These discoveries were the
beginning of investigations in search of brain regions responsible for
specific functions, and for clinical signs and behaviors that would indicate
impairment of brain tissue and are well discussed by Geschwind (1970).

Wernicke (1881) observed oculomotor paralysis, ataxia, and somnolence
in three patients; two were chronic users of alcohol to intoxication, and
the third had ingested sulfuric acid. All died, and at autopsy a distinctive
pattern of damage confined to the upper brainstem was evident in all
three cases. Wernicke noted the similarity of this pattern of damage to
that seen in poliomyelitis of the lower brainstem and spinal cord, and he
compared the oculomotor signs of the cranial nerve system with
progressive paralysis of the limbs in poliomyelitis.