Language Processing - Aphasia

Aphasia

The acquired language disorders that are associated to brain activity are called aphasias. Depending on the location of the damage, the aphasias can present several differences.

The aphasias listed below are examples of acute aphasias which can result from brain injury or stroke.

• Expressive aphasia: Usually characterized as a nonfluent aphasia, this language disorder is present when injury or damage occurs to or near Broca's area. Individuals with this disorder have a hard time reproducing speech, although most of their cognitive functions remain intact, and are still able to understand language. They frequently omit small words. They are aware of their language disorder and may get frustrated.

• Receptive aphasia: Individuals with receptive aphasia are able to produce speech without a problem. However, most of the words they produce lack coherence. At the same time, they have a hard time understanding what others try to communicate. They are often unaware of their mistakes. As in the case with expressive aphasia, this disorder happens when damage occurs to Wernicke's area.

• Conduction aphasia: Characterized by poor speech repetition, this disorder is rather uncommon and happens when branches of the arcuate fasciculus are damaged. Auditory perception is practically intact, and speech generation is maintained. Patients with this disorder will be aware of their errors, and will show significant difficulty correcting them.