The part shown as (1) in the illustration is technically described as the “anterior
speech cortex” or, more usually, as Broca’s area. Paul Broca, a French surgeon,
reported in the 1860s that damage to this specific part of the brain was related to
extreme difficulty in producing speech. It was noted that damage to the corresponding
area on the right hemisphere had no such effect. This finding was first used to
argue that language ability must be located in the left hemisphere and since then has
been treated as an indication that Broca’s area is crucially involved in the production
of speech.