APHASIA

Aphasia is a disorder that results from damage to portions of the brain that are responsible for language.
For most people, these areas are on the left side of the brain. Aphasia usually occurs suddenly, often
following a stroke or head injury, but it may also develop slowly, as the result of a brain tumor or a
progressive neurological disease. The disorder impairs the expression and understanding of language as
well as reading and writing. Aphasia may co-occur with speech disorders, such as dysarthria or apraxia of
speech, which also result from brain damage.

Aphasia is caused by damage to one or more of the language areas of the brain. Most often, the cause of
the brain injury is a stroke. A stroke occurs when a blood clot or a leaking or burst vessel cuts off blood
flow to part of the brain. Brain cells die when they do not receive their normal supply of blood, which
carries oxygen and important nutrients. Other causes of brain injury are severe blows to the head, brain
tumors, gunshot wounds, brain infections, and progressive neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's
disease.

Broca’s Aphasia

It takes a lot of effort to say words or string together sentences. A person with Broca’s aphasia may only
be able to say three or four words at a time. People with this kind of aphasia have limited vocabulary and
trouble finding the words they want to use. At the same time, people with Broca’s aphasia tend to
understand speech. Broca’s aphasia is sometimes called “non-fluent aphasia.”

Wernicke’s Aphasia

Speaking isn’t difficult; in fact, the words pour out of the mouth with ease. The problem is that the
person isn’t forming coherent words, or those words aren’t coming together into coherent sentences.
Wernicke’s aphasia also affects reading and writing. Wernicke’s aphasia is sometimes called “fluent
aphasia.”

Anomic Aphasia

People with anomic aphasia can’t find the words they want to use, and this is particularly true when
trying to come up with the correct noun or verb. They get around the missing words by using many other
similar words or filling in the blank spaces with vague fillers like “stuff” or “thing.” People with anomic
aphasia understand speech and they can usually read, but you see the same difficulties in finding the
right word in their writing.

Global Aphasia

This is the most severe form of aphasia. People with global aphasia cannot speak many words and
sometimes don’t understand speech. They cannot read or write. People may have global aphasia for a
short period of time following a brain injury or stroke, and then move into a different type of aphasia as
their brain health begins to improve.

Primary Progressive Aphasia

Primary Progressive Aphasia is actually a form of dementia where people lose the ability to speak, write,
and read over time. It’s a gradual loss of language, moving from subtle to severe when in advance stages.

A stroke that occurs in areas of the brain that control speech and language can result in aphasia, a
disorder that affects your ability to speak, read, write and listen.

Different aspects of language are in different parts of the left side of the brain. So your type of aphasia
depends on how your stroke affects parts of your brain.

Wernicke's Aphasia (receptive)

If you have Wernicke’s Aphasia, you may:

Say many words that don’t make sense.

Use the wrong words; for instance, you might call a fork a “gleeble.”

String together a series of meaningless words that sound like a sentence but don’t make sense.

Broca's Aphasia (expressive)

Injury to the frontal regions of the left hemisphere impacts how words are strung together to form
complete sentences. This can lead to Broca’s Aphasia, which is characterized by:
Difficulty forming complete sentences.

Leaving out words like “is” or “the.”

Saying something that doesn’t resemble a sentence.

Trouble understanding sentences.

Making mistakes in following directions like “left, right, under and after.”

Using a word that’s close to what you intend, but not the exact word; for example, saying “car” when
you mean “truck.”

Global Aphasia

A stroke that affects an extensive portion of your front and back regions of the left hemisphere may
result in Global Aphasia. You may have difficulty:

Understanding words and sentences.

Forming words and sentences

References:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/5502-aphasia

https://www.strokeassociation.org/en/about-stroke/effects-of-stroke/cognitive-and-communication-
effects-of-stroke/types-of-aphasia

https://www.aphasia.org/stories/different-types-aphasia/