Aphasia
- Article
- 2021-03-02
Aphasia is a neurological condition caused by damage to the parts of the brain responsible for language production or processing. It can come on suddenly or progressively, depending on the type and location of the brain tissue involved. Primary signs of the disorder include difficulty expressing oneself when speaking, difficulty understanding speech, and difficulty reading and writing. Aphasia is not a disease, but a symptom of brain damage. Although it mainly occurs in individuals who have had a stroke, aphasia can also result from a brain tumor, infection, inflammation, head injury, or dementia affecting language-related areas of the brain. It is estimated that about 1 million people in the United States today suffer from aphasia.
In general, aphasia can be divided into four broad categories: (1) Expressive aphasia (also called Broca's aphasia) includes difficulties in conveying thoughts through speech or writing. The person knows what he / she wants to say, but cannot find the words he / she needs. (2) Receptive aphasia ( Wernicke's aphasia ) means that it is difficult to understand spoken or written language. The individual hears the voice or sees the print, but cannot understand the words. (3) Global aphasia results from severe and extensive damage to the language areas of the brain. People lose almost all language functions, both comprehension and expression. They cannot speak or understand speech, nor can they read or write. (4) Persons with anomic or amnesic aphasia, the least severe form of aphasia, have difficulty using the correct names for certain objects, people, places or events.
Therapy
In some cases, a person will fully recover from aphasia without treatment. In most cases, however, language therapy should start as soon as possible and be tailored to the individual's needs. Rehabilitation with a speech pathologist involves extensive exercises in which people read, write, follow directions and repeat what they hear. Computer-aided therapy can complement standard language therapy.
Prognosis
The outcome of aphasia is difficult to predict given the wide variability of the disease. In general, people who are younger or have less extensive brain damage do better. The location of the injury is also important and is another indicator of the prognosis. In general, people tend to restore language comprehension skills more fully than expression skills.
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