Aphasia – Paper Essay Example

corresponds to Brodmann's areas 44 and 45, which make up the lower part of the pre-motor cortex. The damage may also extend down into the white matter and posteriorly to the most inferior part of the motor strip. Broca's aphasia is characterized by telegraphic speech and impaired reading, as well as hemiplegia/hemiparesis on the right side, which affects writing due to the organization of the damaged motor strip. Transcortical motor aphasia, also known as dynamic aphasia, is typically caused by smaller lesions than those in Broca's aphasia, specifically rostrally and anterior to Broca's area. The damage may extend down into the white matter below Broca's area, but does not affect Broca's area itself.

McCaffrey (2001) suggests that a lesion in the brain can disrupt communication between Broca's area and related areas, such as the pre-motor or supplementary motor area. This damage can also affect connections between Broca's area, basal ganglia, and/or thalamus and impact the link with the limbic system, which is involved in speech, language, and memory (specifically the hippocampus). As a result of this damage, transcortical aphasias may occur. The type of aphasia will vary depending on an individual's ability to repeat speech. Transcortical motor aphasia may have less of an impact on repetition than other forms of speech but still cause difficulty with initiating and organizing conversation.

Wernicke’s aphasia, also known as receptive aphasia, results from damage to areas 37, 39, and 40 in the temporal lobe. The superior temporal gyrus, which is located near the primary auditory cortex, is responsible for connecting incoming sounds with their corresponding meanings and storing memories of word sounds. Therefore, Wernicke’s aphasia is characterized by difficulty comprehending spoken

or written language. Patients struggle to understand words and may speak incoherently with long, meaningless sentences, superfluous words, and even invented vocabulary.

Patients with Wernicke's Aphasia often lack insight into their language errors due to impaired auditory and visual comprehension. This condition is caused by damage to the temporal lobe, specifically not affecting the movement-controlling part. Anomic Aphasia or Nominal Aphasia is another type of aphasia caused by damage to the inferior temporal lobe.

The supramarginal gyrus and angular gyrus are frequently impacted, with the least severe type of aphasia being anomic aphasia. Those with anomic aphasia struggle with recalling proper names for people, objects, places and events, and often liken it to the common "tip of the tongue" sensation. When the arcuate fasciculus experiences damage, patients may develop Conduction Aphasia.

The arcuate fasciculus is the pathway in the brain that links the posterior part of the temporo-parietal junction with the frontal cortex, and serves as the connection between Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area. Conduction Aphasia disrupts this pathway, resulting in patients who speak fluently and have good comprehension.

In general, patients do not encounter issues when communicating through speech. The main indication of Transcortical Sensory Aphasia is the difficulty in repeating words. To clarify, this form of fluent aphasia is quite rare. It develops when there is an obstruction in the vascular supply at the end of cerebral arteries, causing Broca's area, Wernicke's area, and the arcuate fasciculus to be isolated from the rest of the brain. Thus, patients may experience poor comprehension but can still speak fluently with correct grammar usage.

Global aphasia is characterized by the ability of patients to repeat words and communicate, but they

often use incorrect synonyms, such as confusing "orange" with "apple". It should be noted that global aphasia affects both Broca's and Wernicke's areas, in contrast to transcortical sensory aphasia.

The frontal and temporal lobes, along with adjacent regions of the left hemisphere, are damaged in global aphasia resulting in the most severe form of aphasia. This condition affects language production, comprehension, repetition, and naming which are also common symptoms found in other types of aphasia.

According to Jacobs (2005), global aphasia, which can impact reading and writing abilities, may result from the occlusion of the middle cerebral artery. Different types of aphasia can be identified through tests that evaluate communication loss and affected areas of the brain. The Halstead Screening Test assesses visio-spatial skills and language abilities, whereas the Token test measures comprehension using tokens of varying shapes, sizes, and colors. Other assessments like the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination examine comprehensive linguistic capabilities while Communicative Abilities in Daily Living evaluates functional communication performance.

When diagnosing aphasia, it is necessary to test the patient's ability to name objects, follow instructions, answer questions, and repeat words. It is crucial to begin speech-language therapy early after an aphasia diagnosis. Generally, therapy is personalized according to the individual's requirements. The primary objective of the treatment is enhancing communication skills by compensating for any lost abilities and restoring as much communicative capability as possible through exercises such as reading, writing, following directions, and repetition.

Computer-aided therapy may involve displaying images for identification as a means of treating Aphasia. Source: Aphasia. (2001). In Wikipedia [Web]. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

On December 6, 2006, the website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphasia was accessed by Bear, M.F., B.

Neuroscience exploring the brain was written

by W. Connors and M. A. Paradiso in 2001.

The author of the 2nd edition of the book is J. N. Browndyke and it was published in Baltimore, MD by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

(2002). The evaluation of aphasia. Accessed on December 5, 2006 from the Neuropsychology Central website: