Areas of your brain

Language

Language thinking is how you find words, hear the shape of them, and move from one to the next.

Broca’s areaSpeech productionWernicke’s areaLanguage comprehension
Areas involved in language: Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas

What these areas do

Language leans on a small network, mostly on the left side of the brain. Toward the front, in the frontal lobe, sits Broca’s area, long associated with putting words together and shaping them into speech. Further back, where the temporal lobe meets the parietal, sits Wernicke’s area, associated with understanding the words you hear and read. The two are joined by a bundle of fibres, and together they let you move smoothly between finding a word and making sense of one.

What your mind is doing in Wordity

When you turn one word into another a single letter at a time, you are holding a word in mind, testing small changes, and checking each one against everything you know about real words. It is a pleasant kind of mental tinkering. None of this is a test, and there is no score for your brain. It is simply a calm way to keep word-finding playful and active.

Play Wordity now

Keep this kind of thinking active

This daily game gives language a gentle, enjoyable workout. Today’s puzzle is always free.

Looking after your brain

Puzzles are one enjoyable way to stay curious and mentally active. The habits with the best evidence behind them are simple ones: good sleep, regular exercise, learning new things, staying socially connected, and looking after your heart. These games are for fun and mental exercise. They are not a treatment, a test, or a measure of your health.