How does damage to Wernicke's area affect communication?

Damage to Wernicke's area significantly affects a person's ability to comprehend language, while astonishingly leaving their speech fluency intact. This area, located in the left temporal lobe of the brain, is critically involved in the processing and understanding of spoken and written language. Patients with damage to Wernicke's area often produce fluent speech that can be grammatically correct and abundant in content; however, the speech may lack meaningful content and represent a form of jargon or nonsensical phrases. As a result, these individuals struggle to comprehend what others are saying, leading to effective communication breakdowns.

This explains why option A accurately describes the consequences of Wernicke's area damage: patients can articulate their thoughts with fluency, but their understanding of language is impaired. The nature of this condition is known as Wernicke's aphasia, characterized by significant challenges in language comprehension and the meaningfulness of spoken language.