Causes and Symptoms of Aphasia

Checking Treatment Methods

From the moment we are born, we form social relationships

and live our lives, and through language at this time we

communicate with others and obtain information.

Being unable to use language can cause various inconveniences

in daily life, and one may suddenly lose the ability to speak

overnight.

This symptom is called aphasia. Today, we will look at the

causes of this condition, its symptoms, and treatment

and improvement methods.

Aphasia means impairment of language function without

loss of consciousness or dysfunction of the oral organs used

to produce speech.

In this condition, it occurs when a specific part of the brain

responsible for understanding or producing language is damaged,

and one common condition that can cause damage to the brain

areas involved in language ability is stroke.

In addition, causes that can affect the onset of the condition

include traumatic brain injury such as a fall or traffic accident,

brain tumors, and encephalitis.

Symptoms of the condition caused by stroke may appear

relatively quickly, whereas symptoms caused by brain tumors or

infections tend to appear relatively slowly.

When symptoms appear after a stroke, blood flow to the brain

is interrupted, brain cells die within a short time, and symptoms

occur due to damage to the left brain cells responsible for

language.

In the temporal lobe of the brain, there are separate areas for

expressing speech and understanding meaning, so depending on

the damaged area, it can be classified as Wernicke's or Broca's

afasia.

In Wernicke's aphasia, the area responsible for understanding

speech is damaged, so a person may speak but string together

meaningless words and may have difficulty understanding what

others say.

If there is a problem in Broca's area, there may be no major

problem understanding what other people say, but speaking

fluently may be difficult.

There are also cases in which both Broca's area and Wernicke's

area are damaged, causing problems with both comprehension and

expression.

For diagnosis of the condition, aphasia assessment tools are

used, and scores are assigned by evaluating self-answering,

understanding, expression, repetition, reading, and writing.

In addition, brain CT or MRI scans are performed, and if the

condition is caused by dementia, cognitive function tests may

also be carried out.

It can be difficult to distinguish it from other language

disorders, and in the case of dementia, language function may

decline early on, which can lead to confusion with this condition.

Therefore, in such cases, as mentioned earlier, other cognitive

function tests such as memory and concentration are used to

differentiate which condition is the cause.

To treat the symptoms, treatment for the underlying cause,

speech rehabilitation therapy, and electrical stimulation therapy

are carried out, and treatment often continues over a long

period.

Today, we looked at what causes and symptoms aphasia can have,

along with methods for treating the symptoms, so please refer to

the information above.