ANOMIC APHASIA

PRESENTED BY :
. JEHAN
. MARYAM
. SAFOORA
INTRODUCTION :
“Anomic” means socially unstable and disorganized and “ Aphasia “ is
a language disorder caused by damaged in a specific area of the brain
that controls language expression and comphresion.
DEFINITION :
It is a language disorder that leads to trouble naming objects when
speaking and writing .
Anomic aphasia goes by several other names like anomia, amnesic
aphasia, and anomic dysphasia .
• People with this disorder often feel they have words on the tip of the
tongue . They can still otherwise speak fluently and grammatically
correctly.
• They have particular trouble with nouns and verbs.
LESION OF ANOMIC APHASIA
Anomic aphasia can be caused by different lesions in the brain including
:
1. ANGULAR GYRUS
2. TEMPORAL GYRUS
3. JUNCTURE OF TEMPOROPARIETAL LOBES
• Anomic aphasia is milder than most other types of aphasia.
• Anomic aphasia is known as a non- focal brain disease, meaning it
isn’t always caused by obvious damage to a specific region of the
brain.
• It is usually caused by damage to your brain’s left hemisphere. But in
rare cases it may be a result of right hemisphere damage.
CAUSES OF ANOMIC APHASIA :
Some of the potential causes of anomic aphasia are as follows :
1. Stroke
2. Brain injury
3. Brain tumor
4. Neurodegenerative disease e.g. Alzheimer's disease
RISK FACTORS :
Strokes are one of the leading causes of aphasia. Factors that increase the risk of
developing a stroke can also increase your risk of developing aphasia. These factors
include the following :
. High blood pressure
. High cholesterol
. Diabetes
. Heart disease
. Smoking
. Family history of stroke
. Overweight
. Alcohol abuse
ANOMIC APHASIA
CHARACTERISTICS
NORMAL
IMPAIRED
• Auditory . Naming
comprehension (nouns, pronouns,
verbs)
• Reading . Empty speech
Comprehension (Vague/non specific

• Reading words)
• Repetition
• Writing
• Pointing
 TYPES
Word selection anomia
A person can recognize objects but usually can’t come up with
the name, even with prompting, e.g if somebody with word
selection anomia saw a pencil, they would know that you can
use it to write but wouldn’t know what it’s called.

Word production anomia

Problem in naming objects but, they may feel like the word is
on the tip of their tongue and may recognize the correct word
with cueing.
 Semantic anomia

People with semantic anomia can’t identify an

object even when given the correct name.
Example
If somebody with semantic anomica was shown
the word “screwdriver,” they wouldn’t be able to
pick out a screwdriver out of a list of tools.
 Disconnection anomia
3 subtypes
1.Category-specific anomia
Inability to identify one category of objects, e.g animals or body
parts.
+ Colour identification problem is common in them.
2.Modality-specific anomia
People with modality-specific anomia have trouble identifying
objects with a specific sense such as sight or touch.
 3. Callosal anomia

People with callosal anomia have trouble transmitting information

between hemispheres of their brain.
Example

A person with callosal anomia holding a hammer in their right hand

wouldn’t have trouble identifying it since the sensory information
comes from the left side of the brain. If they held it in their left hand,
they may have trouble identifying it because sensory information has
to travel from their right hemisphere to their left hemisphere for
language processing.
 DIAGNOSIS :
1. Anomic aphasia tests
2. Verbal and brain imaging tests
3. Hearing test
4. MRI
TREATMENT :
The most promising treatments include increasing the ability to recall
the words for nouns. This is done by repeatedly showing the patient an
image of the object and offering praise when they recall the word.
Another exercise that speech pathologists can use to help with anomic
aphasia is by naming a list of words and having the person tell you what
you mean. A more complex version of this activity is describing an
object and having the person name. For example , the object is
something used to mow the grass , and the word is lawnmower.
Activities revolve around nouns and recognition of them
How long does speech therapy for anomic
aphasia take?
Depending upon the severity , there is no fixed amount of time it takes
to recover from anomic aphasia. Aphasia symptoms lasts longer than
two or three months, a full recovery is unlikely.