damage to this part of the brain can result in reduced ability to comprehend and/or produce humor
Right hemisphere brain damage For the majority of the nineteenth century, the left brain hemisphere was the key focus of clinical research on language disorders (Brookshire, 2007).[2] In the twentieth century, focus gradually shifted to include right hemisphere damage (Brookshire, 2007).[2] It is now well established that language and cognition can be seriously impaired by unilateral right hemisphere brain damage.[40] Specific cognitive tests can help diagnose the existence of right hemisphere brain damage and differentiate symptoms from those of left hemisphere damage.[41] Unlike the aphasias, caused by left hemisphere damage and generally resulting in focused language deficits, right hemisphere brain damage can result in a variety of diffuse deficits which complicate formal testing of this disorder (Brookshire, 2007).[2] These formal tests assess areas such as understanding humor, metaphors, sarcasm, facial expression, and prosody.[23] However, not all individuals with right hemisphere brain damage have problems in language or communication and some may have no discernible symptoms.[40] Indeed, about half of patients with right hemisphere damage have intact communication abilities (Brookshire, 2007).[2][42]
Wernicke's area Wernicke's area (/ˈvɛərnɪkə/ or /ˈvɛərnɪki/; German: [ˈvɛʁnɪkə]), also called Wernicke's speech area, is one of the two parts of the cerebral cortex linked, since the late nineteenth century, to speech (the other is Broca's area). It is involved in the comprehension or understanding of written and spoken language (in contrast to Broca's area that is involved in the production of language). It is traditionally thought to be in Brodmann area 22, which is located in the posterior section of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) in the dominant cerebral hemisphere[citation needed] (which is the left hemisphere in about 95% of right handed individuals and 60% of left handed individuals). Damage caused to Wernicke's area results in receptive, fluent aphasia. This means that the person with aphasia will be able to fluently connect words, but the phrases will lack meaning. This is unlike non-fluent aphasia, in which the person will use meaningful words, but in a non-fluent, telegraphic manner.[1]