In the image, Broca's area is in blue and Wernicke's area is in green.

Broca's Area is located near the inferior frontal gyrus of the left temporal lobe (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broca%27s_area for a more comprehensive description and diagrams) and is responsible for speech production. Paul Broca, a French physician and anthropologist, discovered this area while working with two patients who had damaged it and lost their ability to speak. This area is one of the few which are asymmetrical in the brain-- there is no counterpart on the right side.

1. To remember Broca's area, imagine you are talking with Paul Broca (or alternatively, Tom Brokaw, the former NBC news anchor) about anatomy. To simulate this conversation, curl your right hand into a fist and wiggle your thumb sideways just like a hand puppet. Remember to use your right hand-- only it will give you the "right" answer!! You can even draw eyes and a moustache on him, we won't judge you for it (Broca didn't actually have a moustache, but he had some wicked sideburns. Oh, those French anatomists). 

The analogy goes something like this: Think of the fist you've just made as your brain. The interior line of your thumb is the frontal inferior gyrus (your thumb itself forming the temporal lobe). Broca's "mouth", that is, the hole that appears when you wiggle your thumb, corresponds to the area in the brain considered to be Broca's area, just above the inferior frontal gyrus on the left side of the brain. Who would've thought that a Broca puppet would be so handy? Hah. 

Cognitive functions:

• syntax production/analysis (Grodzinski, 2006)

Physical location:

• posterior part of the left inferior frontal gyrus (Petrides, 2006)

Mnemonic:

• If that ass Broca hadn't left the front-row tickets in his shoddy knapsack, we'd be at the Cincinnati game right now!

  • ass → posterior

  • Broca → Broca's area

  • left → left

  • front-row → frontal

  • shoddy → inferior

  • Cincinnati → syntax

References

Grodzinsky, Y. (2006). A Blueprint for a Brain Map of Syntax. In Grodzinsky, Y., & Amunts, K. (Eds.), Broca's Region. (pp. 83-107). New York: Oxford University Printing Press.

Petrides, M. (2006). Broca's Area in the Human and Nonhuman Primate Brain. In Grodzinsky, Y., & Amunts, K. (Eds.), Broca's Region. (pp. 31-48). New York: Oxford University Printing Press.

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Function:  Plays an “essential role (…) in various speech and language functions”.

There once were two brothers; bastard Broca and virtuous Wernicke. They can often be seen together; Broca always yammering away in a torrent of acid speech and Wernicke always listening very attentively and humbly not responding to his brother’s insults. *

The names with repeated sounds help remember and differentiate the areas. Broca is a bastard so he is the type of person to shout insults. He is implicated in producing speach. Wernickle on the other hand is virtuous. He is so humble that he only listens to (and comprehends) what his borther is saying. He is responsible for speech comprehension. The fact that they are brothers related to the fact that they are, in fact, closely related. No (normal) conversation could take place without both these areas.

*This is a mneumonic for both Brocca's and Wernicke's areas.