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.

mo·tor a·pha·si·a

a type of aphasia in which there is a deficit in speech production or language output, often accompanied by a deficit in communicating by writing, signs, or other manifestation. The patient is aware of the impairment.

Synonym(s): anterior aphasia, ataxic aphasia, Broca aphasia, expressive aphasia, nonfluent aphasia

Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

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.

ex·pres·sive a·pha·si·a

(eks-pres'iv ă-fā'zē-ă)

A type of aphasia in which the greatest deficit is in speech production or language output; usually accompanied by a deficit in communicating by writing, signs, or other means. The patient is aware of this impairment. The lesion typically includes the posterior frontal lobe.
Synonym(s): Broca aphasia (2) , motor aphasia, nonfluent aphasia.

Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012

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References in periodicals archive

Category Context units Frequency Percentage * Clinical Aphasia 19 2,1 findings Expressive aphasia 6 0,7 Impressive aphasia 6 0,7 Agitation 19 2,1 Confusion 21 2,3 Slurred speech 5 0,6 Autonomic dysreflexia 4 0,4 Musculoskeletal pain 1 0,1 Spasticity 13 1,4 Stupor 4 0,4 Paralysis 11 1,2 Paresis 18 2,0 Foot drop 9 1,0 Joint contracture 12 1,3 Somnolence 8 0,9 Subtotal 15 156 17,3 * Based on a total of 81 findings.

A nursing clinical data model for neuromuscular processes: content analysis of the Portuguese nursing customization/ Um modelo clinico de dados de enfermagem em processos neuromuscular: analise de conteudo da parametrizacao portuguesa

This patient is a rare clinical presentation of sporadic CJD (sCJD) with combination of both expressive aphasia and NCSE.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Presenting as Expressive Aphasia and Nonconvulsive Status Epilepticus

For individuals with expressive aphasia, it is helpful to take the time to learn how the patient uses a limited vocabulary or alternate means of communication.

Empowering individuals with aphasia and visual impairments through effective communication

Following the broadly used dichotomic classification (Weisenburg & McBride, 1935) of productive or expressive aphasia (Hebert, Racette, Gagnon, & Peretz, 2003), and receptive or comprehension aphasia (Francis, Clark, & Humphreys, 2003), the group of aphasic patients was divided into two groups, those showing production problems (productive aphasia group) and those with comprehension problems (receptive aphasia group).

Independent effects of imageability and grammatical class in synonym judgement in aphasia

The most common CNS manifestation of epidemic typhus was confusion (n = 5); and other CNS manifestations included photophobia (n = 2), expressive aphasia (n = 2), weakness (n =1), ataxia (n =1), and stupor (n =1).

Environmental risk factors for epidemic typhus in the United States: wintertime is typhus time

A 70 year old male was admitted to NSH with a two week history of intermittent confusion, occipital headache, nausea, vomiting and periods of expressive aphasia. In 2005 he had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's diffuse large B cell lymphoma involving the pleura and bone marrow.

An unusual fluid. The advantages of cross discipline training

Neurologic sequelae were seen in five children (16%) in the ICE group, and included one case each of the following: diplopia, hemiparesis, loss of vision, expressive aphasia, and cognitive and speech deficit.

Features differ in sinogenic intracranial infections

Neurologic sequelae were observed in five children in the ICE group, and included one case each of the following: diplopia, hemiparesis, loss of vision, expressive aphasia, and cognitive and speech deficit.

Identifying intracranial, intraorbital sinusitis in children helps outcomes

Then there's expressive aphasia. Aphasia is a disorder of communication essentially.

The road last traveled: M. Scott Peck's journey with Parkinson's disease

Findings on neurologic examination were within normal limits except for mild nuchal rigidity and some mild expressive aphasia. The patient was taken to the radiology suite, where he underwent left cerebral angiography (figure 2, B and C).

Penetrating trauma to the head and neck from a nail gun: a unique mechanism of injury

The self-portrait in Figure 2 was done by a woman with multi-infarct dementia and Alzheimer's who was able to speak only a few words due to expressive aphasia. After seeing the completed work, Denis asked the resident a simple question, "Are you sad?", to which she responded with a resounding "Yes." The self-portrait proved to be this resident's sole means of communicating her feelings, and this visual expression provided Denis with a way to "see" how she was feeling and to initiate verbal communication about those feelings.

Art, music and pet therapy

* Expressive aphasia (also called motor aphasia, nonfluent aphasia, and Broca's aphasia) involves difficulty in conveying thoughts through speech or writing.

Aphasia