Language/Communication Disorders

Question 1

Aphasia

Answer 1

Disturbance in the comprehension or production of language
Multiple types depending on the region of the brain that has been damaged

Question 2

Broca’s aphasia (expressive aphasia)

Answer 2

Non-fluent aphasia caused by damage to Broca’s area
Disorder of speech production
Better language comprehension than production
Few function words (a, the, same, in)
Mostly content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives)
3 major speech and language deficits: agrammartism, anomia, articulation difficulties

Question 3

Agrammartism

Answer 3

Difficulties with using basic grammar and syntax, speech mostly consists of nouns

Question 4

Anomia

Answer 4

Inability to retrieve known words, trouble naming objects

Question 5

Articulation difficulties

Answer 5

Apraxia
Broca’s area also plays a role in motor movements needed to articulate words

Question 6

Apraxia

Answer 6

Impairment in the ability to program movements to produce speech

Question 7

Wernicke’s aphasia (receptive aphasia)

Answer 7

Fluent aphasia caused by damage to Wernicke’s area
Deficits in spoken word recognition
Poor language comprehension (cannot grasp meaning of words or sentences)
Speech is fluent and unaltered, but meaningless

Question 8

Pure word deafness

Answer 8

Can hear, but doesn’t understand spoken words
Speech is unaffected
Can read and write
Form of Wernicke’s aphasia
Caused by damage to superior left temporal lobe

Question 9

Transcortical sensory aphasia

Answer 9

Caused by damage to the posterior language area
Cannot understand meaning of words, but can repeat them

Question 10

Conduction aphasia

Answer 10

Caused by damage to the white matter beneath parietal lobe superior to lateral fissure (arcuate fasciculus)
Characterized by deficits in the oral repetition of words or sentences
Comprehension, speech fluency, and naming are intact

Question 11

Anomic aphasia

Answer 11

Caused by damage to various parts of parietal and temporal lobes
Relatively preserved speech and comprehension, but have word-finding difficulties
Mildest of aphasias

Question 12

Disorders of reading and writing

Answer 12

Related to aphasia

Question 13

How are reading/writing disorders related to aphasia?

Answer 13

Reading and writing skills of people with aphasia often reflect their speaking and comprehension skills
Wernicke’s aphasia - difficulty reading and writing
Broca’s aphasia - comprehend what they read, but reading aloud is poor

Question 14

Pure Alexia (pure word blindness or Alexia without agraphia)

Answer 14

Characterized by loss of ability to read without the loss of ability to write
Can recognize words spelled aloud
Perceptual disorder

Question 15

What causes pure alexia?

Answer 15

Lesions preventing visual info from reaching the visual association cortex of the left hemisphere