The Meaning of Aphasia: What It Is and How To Use It

What is aphasia, and how is it diagnosed? What are the symptoms of aphasia, and how is it treated? This article will cover what aphasia is and numerous related topics.

What Does Aphasia Mean?

Aphasia is a type of speech disorder and language disorder that causes people to struggle with their language abilities. Often, people with aphasia struggle with the loss of language, the inability to find the right words, and using the wrong words. 

A person’s ability to control language is controlled by different areas of the brain. Aphasia is related to other communication disorders like apraxia, dysarthria, alexia, and dysphasia.

What Are the Different Types of Aphasia?

No matter what form of aphasia a person is diagnosed with, it can range from mild to severe. Usually, aphasia is grouped into two different categories: fluent aphasia and non-fluent aphasia. 

With fluent aphasia, a person can produce sentences that connect, but they might lack meaning. With non-fluent aphasia, it might be difficult to form sentences with proper grammar.

Broca’s Aphasia

Broca’s aphasia is a form of non-fluent aphasia in which a person knows what they want to say but cannot communicate it in writing or speech. This type of aphasia might be very frustrating and is also known as expressive aphasia.

Global Aphasia

Global aphasia is a severe form of non-fluent aphasia in which a person cannot speak, understand words, write, or read. People most often experience global aphasia after a stroke and can regain some or all of their speech and understanding through therapy.

Wernicke’s Aphasia

Wernicke’s aphasia is just one type of fluent aphasia in which a person can hear language but not understand its meaning. 

A person with Wernicke’s aphasia might also struggle to speak because they do not understand what people are saying to them. This particular type of aphasia is also known as receptive aphasia.

Anomic Aphasia

Anomic aphasia is a type of fluent aphasia. A person with anomic aphasia might struggle to find the right words for different contexts in speaking and writing. 

This is similar to conduction aphasia (also known as associative aphasia) which is where a person has trouble with repeating phrases.

Primary Progressive Aphasia

Primary progressive aphasia doesn’t quite fit into either the fluent or non-fluent aphasia categories. With primary progressive aphasia, the person has a type of dementia in which they lose their ability to use language over time in all forms. 

Transcortical Motor Aphasia

Transcortical motor aphasia is another type of non-fluent aphasia. Here, a person might be able to understand what people are saying but require a lot of thought to respond.

What Are Common Symptoms of Aphasia?

Usually, people with aphasia have an impairment in their communication skills. Aphasia affects language function, so a person with aphasia might struggle to name objects, follow a conversation, or speak at all. Those with aphasia might use strange words in the wrong contests or write sentences that don’t make sense.

Aphasia ranges from mild to severe, and some people struggle more with aphasia when they are tired or overstimulated. It is important to remember that the disorder aphasia affects communication, not thinking or intelligence. 

What Are Common Causes of Aphasia?

Aphasia is caused by brain damage, which can occur in many different forms. Some people who have aphasia have had a head injury or other type of traumatic brain injury. Other causes are neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease or epilepsy.

Many people who have experienced a stroke end up with aphasia. Additionally, a brain tumor or lesions on the left side of the brain, temporal lobe, or other parts of the brain can cause aphasia. To diagnose aphasia, doctors will run a series of tests like an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and ask you specific questions. 

What Are Treatments for Aphasia?

Depending on your healthcare system and type of diagnosis, the treatment options for aphasia might vary. If a person’s aphasia comes from a stroke, they might benefit from speech-language therapy with a speech-language pathologist. 

This therapist will assist them with their language skills and teach them how to communicate in other ways. Support groups and things like group therapy can also help you or a loved one if you have aphasia.

What Are Translations of Aphasia?

If you are traveling to a foreign country and start to experience symptoms of aphasia, it can be very scary. To learn all about how to say the word aphasia in other languages, you can reference this list of translations from Nice Translator. 

• Slovenian: Afazija
• Chinese (Taiwan): 失語症
• Marathi: अफासिया
• Latvian: afāzija
• Croatian: afazija
• Dutch: afasie
• Finnish: afasia
• Turkish: afazi
• Tamil: அஃபாசியா
• Icelandic: Málstol
• Vietnamese: chứng mất ngôn ngữ
• Catalan: afàsia
• Swedish: afasi
• Swahili: aphasia
• Italian: afasia
• Indonesian: afasia
• Russian: афазия
• Czech: afázie
• Malayalam: അഫാസിയ
• Spanish: afasia
• Gujarati: ફાંસી
• Basque: afasia
• Portuguese (Brazil): afasia
• German: Aphasie
• Lithuanian: Afazija
• Slovak: afázia
• Greek: αφασία
• Portuguese (Portugal): afasia
• Estonian: afaasia
• Telugu: అఫాసియా
• Kannada: ಉಂಗುರ
• Chinese (PRC): 失语症
• Japanese: 失語症
• Korean: 실어증
• Danish: afasi
• Bengali: অ্যাফাসিয়া
• Thai: ความพิการทางสมอง
• Polish: afazja
• Romanian: afazie
• French: aphasie
• Ukrainian: афазія
• Serbian: афазија
• Urdu: افاسیا
• Norwegian: Afasi
• Amharic: አፕሲያ
• Hungarian: beszédzavar
• Welsh: affasia
• Arabic: فقدان القدرة على الكلام
• Bulgarian: афазия
• Hindi: बोली बंद होना
• Hebrew: אֲפָּזִיָה
  

Conclusion

Aphasia is a type of language disorder in which people have difficulty communicating. There are many different types of aphasia, some of which are considered fluent aphasia and others that are considered non-fluent aphasia.

If you or a loved one begins experiencing symptoms of aphasia, see your doctor immediately. A doctor will want to do tests to get to the root cause of the aphasia, whether that is a stroke, brain tumor, or another type of head injury or neurological disorder.

Sources:

Aphasia – Symptoms and causes | Mayo Clinic 

What Is aphasia? — Types, Causes and Treatment | NIDCD 

Aphasia: What to Know | Web MD 

Aphasia | Nice Translator