The Language Engine Room

An interactive map of the brain's language regions. Click any highlighted area to learn its role.

The brain's language network spans both hemispheres and involves a web of specialized regions working in continuous, rapid coordination. The two main processing routes — the Dorsal Stream (mapping sound onto grammatical structure) and the Ventral Stream (mapping sound onto meaning) — both begin at the same entry point in the left temporal lobe and flow toward Broca's area in the frontal lobe. The left hemisphere, shown below, is the primary language hemisphere for most people. Click any colored region or stream band to learn its role.

Diagram 1 — Left Hemisphere, Lateral View
The primary language hemisphere. Engine room regions shown in full color. Click any region or stream band to open its description.

↑ Click any colored region or stream band to open its description

Dorsal StreamVentral StreamDLPFCPremotorIFGBroca'sFOpATLHeschl'sSTS / STGWernicke'sMTGSMGAGFrontal lobeTemporal lobeParietal lobeOccipital lobe

Color Key — Diagram 1: Left Hemisphere

Engine Room — Core Language Network
STS/STG — Wernicke's Area (BA22)
MTG — Middle Temporal Gyrus (BA21)
ATL — Anterior Temporal Lobe (BA38/20)
AG — Angular Gyrus (BA39)
SMG — Supramarginal Gyrus (BA40)
IFG — Broca's Area (BA44/45/47)
FOp — Frontal Operculum
Processing Streams
Dorsal Stream — sound → structure
Ventral Stream — sound → meaning
Close Support
HG — Heschl's Gyrus (Primary Auditory)
DLPFC — Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (BA9/46)
PMC/SMA — Premotor Cortex / SMA (BA6)