Aphasia is a group of diseases characterized by difficulties producing or processing speech. There are several kinds of aphasias, and although each presents different specific symptoms, they all share similarities in the aforementioned difficulties. Here’s a look at the symptoms of the most common types of aphasia.
Aphasia
Aphasias are generally caused by stroke or traumatic brain injury. Depending on which parts of the brain are affected, whether because of trauma or the loss of oxygen that results from stroke, different symptoms appear. In general, someone with aphasia may speak in sentences that seem incomplete or very short, missing key words. Conversely, sentences may be of a normal length but make little sense. Words may be made up, or replaced with incorrect words. Some forms of aphasia do not make comprehension or reading difficult, while others do. Most aphasias affect an ability to write clearly, as it is so similar to spoken language.
Fluent Aphasia
Fluent aphasia, also called Wernicke’s aphasia, occurs because of damage or injury to Wernicke’s area in the brain. This area is essentially the brain’s vocabulary powerhouse. When it’s damaged, the individual retains grammatical abilities but loses the capacity to access appropriate words. They may use words incorrectly or make up nonsense words or sounds. To them, what they are saying makes complete sense.
Additionally, Wernicke’s aphasia makes it extremely difficult to comprehend what others are saying -- it creates an inability not only to insert appropriate vocabulary into one’s own sentences but also to translate vocabulary from others. Unsurprisingly, fluent aphasia hampers both reading and writing. This aphasia is described as fluent because sentences are still complete and connected; the expressed ideas just don’t make any sense. The National Institute of Health provides the following sentence as an example of an attempt at expression by someone with Wernicke’s aphasia: “You know that smoodle pinkered and that I want to get him round and take care of him like you want before.”
Nonfluent Aphasia
Nonfluent aphasia, or Broca’s aphasia, is more or less the opposite of fluent aphasia. Broca’s area is the area in the brain responsible for speech production and is necessary to create grammatically correct sentences. While an individual with Broca’s aphasia still has access to their vocabulary, it may be limited, and it is virtually impossible to create long or complicated sentences to express ideas. Comprehension is generally preserved, and thus reading is as well. Writing, however, will likely become as stilted as verbal expression. It is still possible to express ideas, but they are expressed largely in nouns and verbs. For example, rather than saying “I’d like to go to the library tomorrow,” someone with nonfluent aphasia might say, “Library tomorrow.”
Global Aphasia
Global aphasia is one of the most severe types of aphasia. It is not uncommon immediately following a stroke, but can get better with time. Unfortunately, when global aphasia is the result of widespread, extreme brain damage, it may become a nearly permanent state of being. Global aphasia robs a person of the ability to produce sentences, comprehend others, read, or write. These individuals generally have an extremely limited vocabulary, with only a few usable words, and likewise understand very few words as well.
