Broca's aphasia

aphasia

 [ah-fa´zhah]

a type of speech disorder consisting of a defect or loss of the power of expression by speech, writing, or signs, or of comprehension of spoken or written language, due to disease or injury of the brain centers, such as after stroke syndrome on the left side.

Patient Care. Aphasia is a complex phenomenon manifested in numerous ways. The recovery period is often very long, even months or years. Because communication is such a vital part of everyday living, loss of the ability to communicate with words, whether in speaking or writing, can profoundly affect the personality and behavior of a patient. Although aphasic persons usually require extensive treatment by specially trained speech patholigists or therapists, all persons concerned with the care of the patient should practice techniques that will help minimize frustration and improve communication with such patients.

amnestic aphasia anomic aphasia.

anomic aphasia inability to name objects, qualities, or conditions. Called also amnestic or nominal aphasia.

ataxic aphasia expressive aphasia.

auditory aphasia loss of ability to comprehend spoken language. Called also word deafness.

Broca's aphasia motor aphasia.

conduction aphasia aphasia due to a lesion of the pathway between the sensory and motor speech centers.

expressive aphasia motor aphasia.

fluent aphasia that in which speech is well articulated (usually 200 or more words per minute) and grammatically correct but is lacking in content and meaning.

global aphasia total aphasia involving all the functions that go to make up speech and communication.

jargon aphasia that with utterance of meaningless phrases, either neologisms or incoherently arranged known words.

mixed aphasia combined expressive and receptive aphasia.

motor aphasia aphasia in which there is impairment of the ability to speak and write, owing to a lesion in the insula and surrounding operculum including Broca's motor speech area. The patient understands written and spoken words but has difficulty uttering the words. See also receptive aphasia. Called also logaphasia and Broca's, expressive, or nonfluent aphasia.

nominal aphasia anomic aphasia.

nonfluent aphasia motor aphasia.

receptive aphasia inability to understand written, spoken, or tactile speech symbols, due to disease of the auditory and visual word centers, as in word blindness. See also motor aphasia. Called also logamnesia and sensory or Wernicke's aphasia.

sensory aphasia receptive aphasia.

visual aphasia alexia.

Wernicke's aphasia receptive aphasia.

Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

Broca’s aphasia

Loss of language ability due to damage in Broca's area (Brodmann area 44 and 45), characterised by telegraphic speech in which the meaning is usually clear but the grammatical connecting words are missing, with retained comprehension.

Aetiology
Stroke, usually due to thromboembolism; less commonly due to brain tumours, cerebral haemorrhage, extradural haematoma.

Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

Broca's aphasia

Motor aphasia Neurology Loss of the ability to produce spoken and usually written language with retained comprehension See Aphasia.

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Broca's aphasia

A condition characterized by either partial or total loss of the ability to express oneself, either through speech or writing. Hearing comprehension is not affected. This condition may result from a stroke, head injury, brain tumor, or infection.

Mentioned in: Aphasia

Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.