Table of contents:
- Broca's aphasia
- Wernicke's aphasia
- Global Aphasia
- Motor Transcortical Aphasia
- Sensory Transcortical Aphasia
- Mixed Transcortical Aphasia
Aphasia is a language disorder that occurs when a person has an injury to the part of the brain that controls language skills. Aphasia can affect language skills in a number of ways including production (the ability to speak) and comprehension (the ability to understand speech), as well as other abilities related to language skills such as reading and writing. More than 20% of stroke sufferers have aphasia.
Here are the types of aphasia and their characteristics:
Broca's aphasia
This form of aphasia is named after the discoverer of the part of the brain responsible for producing speech. Broca's aphasia is often called "motor aphasia" to emphasize the production of impaired language (such as speaking) while other aspects of language are unproblematic. In a stroke, the damage to the broca area is the result of disruption of blood flow through the blood vessels that supply this area with oxygen and nutrients.
Generally, broca's aphasia prevents a person from forming clear words or sentences, yet they still understand what the other person is talking about. Often times, people with aphasia feel frustrated that they can't put their thoughts into words. Some people with aphasia can say a few words, which they use to communicate in a characteristic type of speech known as telegraphic speech.
Because some of the blood vessels affecting Broca's aphasia also carry blood to the part that controls the movement of one side of the body (usually the right side), Broca's aphasia is generally accompanied by other disorders such as hemiparesis, or hemiplegia on the right side of the body, Alexia and agraphia.
Wernicke's aphasia
Wernicke's aphasia is named after the discoverer of the part of the brain responsible for language comprehension. Wernicke's aphasia sufferers cannot understand other people, or even themselves, when they speak. Their speech cannot be understood because they make sentences with random word order. For example, you may hear aphasia sufferer Wernicke say: "My door sits through a light in the sky." This type of language pattern is sometimes called logorrhea. However, people with Wernicke's aphasia will find their speech understood by others. This is caused by a lack of awareness of language disorders (anosagnosia). Over time, people with Wernicke's aphasia may find that other people do not understand them when they speak, so they will become angry, paranoid, and depressed.
Global Aphasia
This type of aphasia is the result of prolonged damage to the brain involving both Broca and Wernicke's parts. People with global aphasia cannot understand speech, or speak. In some cases, people with global aphasia can still communicate using written language.
Motor Transcortical Aphasia
This language disorder is almost the same as Broca's aphasia, where the sufferer cannot produce speech spontaneously. In essence, people with transcortical motor aphasia cannot say what they want to say. They can't form words. However, if you ask them to repeat a word, they can do it without difficulty. For example, a person with this disorder wants to say that he is thirsty, he cannot say "I am thirsty". However, he can repeat the phrase "I am thirsty" when asked to repeat the word. Mild cases of transcortical motor aphasia are known as telegraphic speech. This language disorder is generally caused by a stroke on Broca's front.
Sensory Transcortical Aphasia
A person with this rare type of aphasia cannot understand what other people are saying, but can speak fluently. Although they can repeat words or sentences that other people say, this person with aphasia does not understand the meaning of the word. For example, if you ask a person with transcortical sensory aphasia, "Are you all right?" they may repeat some parts of the words, such as, "You are good" or, "Are you all right?" in response. This type of aphasia is caused by injury to the part of the brain around Wernicke, the part of the brain that plays an important role in understanding language.
Mixed Transcortical Aphasia
People with this type of aphasia cannot speak or understand other people when speaking, but can repeat words or sentences, and sing songs they often hear. In this rare species, the main parts of language (Broca and Wernicke) are not disturbed but the parts that are around them, also known as the language-related parts, are damaged. It is thought that the defects in this section have left Broca and Wernicke's parts isolated from other language systems, including the ability to produce spontaneous speech and comprehension of both oral and written language. The most common cause is a DAS stroke in the language association section as a result of severe internal carotid stenosis.