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Aphasia
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Aphasia is a neurological disorder caused by damage to the portions of the brain that are responsible for language. Primary signs of the disorder include difficulty in expressing oneself when speaking, trouble understanding speech, and difficulty with reading and writing. Aphasia is not a disease, but a symptom of brain damage. Most commonly seen in adults who have suffered a stroke, aphasia can ... result from a brain tumor, infection, head injury, or dementia that damages the brain. It is estimated that about 1 million people in the United States today suffer from aphasia. The type and severity of language dysfunction depends on the precise location and extent of the damaged brain tissue.
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Aphasia is a loss or impairment of the ability to produce ([A]phonia )and/or comprehend language, due to brain damage. It is usually a result of damage to the language centres of the brain (like Broca's area). These areas are almost always located in the left hemisphere, and in most people this is where the ability to produce and comprehend language is found. However in a very small number of people language ability is found in the right hemisphere. Damage to these language areas can be caused by a stroke, traumatic brain injury or other head injury. Aphasia may ... develop slowly, as in the case of a brain tumor.
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Aphasia, a devastating disorder resulting from stroke, degenerative disease, or traumatic brain injury, profoundly affects the individual's ability to use and understand language. This groundbreaking work brings together an array of leading scientist-practitioners to review what is known about aphasia and to relate current knowledge to treatment. Integrating traditional linguistic formulations with new insights derived from cognitive neuroscience, the volume explores the neuropsychological bases of both normal and pathologic language. Chapters address the major domains of language impairment in aphasia and ... consider such related disorders as apraxia of speech, alexia, agraphia, and limb apraxia. Major principles of rehabilitation are described and evaluated, and the treatment literature is reviewed in depth. Throughout, the volume reflects a sophisticated understanding of brain structure and function based on new developments in connectionist modeling and functional neuroimaging.
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Aphasia often occurs in people who have had a stroke. In fact, 20% of all people who have a stroke each year, develop some type of aphasia. People who have suffered brain damage from a head injury, infection (such as encephalitis), or brain tumor may develop aphasia. Aphasia ... occurs in people with Alzheimer's disease. Researchers have found no connection between aphasia and age, gender, or race.
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Aphasia research is exploring new ways to evaluate and treat aphasia as well as to further understanding of the function of the brain. Brain imaging techniques are helping to define brain function, determine the severity of brain damage, and predict the severity of the aphasia. These procedures include PET (positron emission tomography), CT (computed tomography), and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) as well as the new functional magnetic resonance (fMRI), which identifies areas of the brain that are used during activities such as speaking or listening. In-depth testing of the language ability of individuals with the various aphasic syndromes is helping to design effective treatment strategies. The use of computers in aphasia treatment is being studied. Promising new drugs administered shortly after some types of stroke are being investigated as ways to reduce the severity of aphasia.
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Aphasia is sometimes confused with other conditions that affect speech, such as dysarthria and apraxia. These condition affect the muscles used in speaking rather than language function itself. Dysarthria is a speech disturbance caused by lack of control over the muscles used in speaking, perhaps due to nerve damage. Speech apraxia is a speech disturbance in which language comprehension and muscle control are retained, but the memory of how to use the muscles to form words is not.
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Aphasia