Which of the following arteries supplies Broca's area?

The correct answer is B. MCA. MCA (B) is correct because Broca's area - the speech production center located in the inferior frontal gyrus (Brodmann areas 44 and 45) of the dominant hemisphere - sits on the lateral surface of the frontal lobe, the primary territory of the middle cerebral artery. This is why…

Normal Structure and Function

Question

Options

AACA
BMCA
CPCA
DLateral striate

How the community answered

(20 responses)

A
15% (3)
B
70% (14)
C
10% (2)
D
5% (1)

Explanation

MCA (B) is correct because Broca's area - the speech production center located in the inferior frontal gyrus (Brodmann areas 44 and 45) of the dominant hemisphere - sits on the lateral surface of the frontal lobe, the primary territory of the middle cerebral artery. This is why MCA strokes classically present with Broca's (expressive) aphasia.

ACA supplies the medial frontal and parietal cortex (lower extremity motor/sensory, supplementary motor area), not the lateral inferior frontal gyrus. PCA irrigates posterior structures - occipital lobe, medial temporal lobe, and thalamus - far from Broca's area. Lateral (lenticulostriate) striates are deep perforating branches of the MCA that feed the basal ganglia and internal capsule, not the overlying cortex where Broca's area resides.

Memory tip: MCA = "Makes Communication Accessible" - it supplies the lateral cortex housing both Broca's area (speech production) and Wernicke's area (speech comprehension), so an MCA stroke can devastate language on both ends.

Topics

#Broca's area#Middle Cerebral Artery#cerebral arterial supply

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