Q. A 92 year-old woman presents with his wife to the ER. She has lost the ability to speak and displays right facial weakness and right side of body weakness. She has no prior history of similar episodes and no significant past medical history. Her family reports that she has been "healthy as a horse" throughout her life. They are stunned with this sudden deterioration and want to know why she suddenly cannot speak. Vital signs are normal. Brief neurological exam demonstrates that she is unable to speak but can follow simple commands. She has a right facial droop with preserved ability to wrinkle her forehead, preserved visual fields, right upper extremity demonstrates flaccid weakness, and the right lower extremity has mild weakness. Cardiopulmonary exam is normal. You suspect this patient is having a stroke in the left middle cerebral artery (MCA) distribution. Where does speech output localize to?

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