Articles

Aphasia is a language function disorder that occurs following learning of speaking based on the damages arising as a result of vascular reasons (vein-oriented reasons), traumas or tumors, and that is not caused by a psychiatric problem or an inhibition in the muscular level.

The motor pattern concerning utterance, and grammar structures cannot be conducted to the motor cortex and thus the speech is impaired due to the fact that a lesion in the Broca area cuts the ties of this area with the motor cortex.

When there is a lesion in the Wernicke area, the images and words transmitted to the visual and auditory cortices cannot stimulate this area, therefore fails to activate the language system. The patient cannot process this information within the context of language, thus cannot understand the speech s/he hears or read the writing s/he sees.

Having a robust Wernicke area, the patient is able to understand both the speech heard from ear, or the writing read. The patient can also express the things s/he would like to say as her/his Broca area is also robust. However, many literal paraphasia (jumbling of sounds within a word) may occur while speaking. That’s why, these patients are mistaken for Broca aphasia. The reason of occurrence of this type of aphasia is a problem present in the fibers extending from Wernicke to Broca.

Dissimilar to the others, it occurs in the case that the lesion is present on the border between medial and posterior, or anterior and medial. If the lesion is in front, the patient is able to understand what is said but never speaks. If it’s at the back, it would be like Wernicke’s aphasia. If it’s located on both sides, it would be a transcortical mixed aphasia. Regardless of the type it is of, this is an aphasia in which repetition is perfectly preserved. Its communication with other networks is impaired, although it is only the language networks that is not impaired. That’s why repetition is preserved.