Aphasia Symptoms & Causes

Identify the symptoms of Aphasia disorders such as difficulty speaking or writing. Explore the causes including stroke and learn who is most at risk.

Symptoms and Risk Factors

What Are The Symptoms of Aphasia Disorders?

The symptoms of aphasia are diverse and depend heavily on which part of the brain has been damaged. The most obvious symptom is difficulty using words to express thoughts. This might manifest as speaking in short, fragmented phrases or struggling to find the name for a common object. Some people may say words that are related to what they mean, like saying truck instead of car, while others may say words that sound similar or are completely made up.

Symptoms manifest in:

Speaking in short or incomplete sentences
Speaking sentences that do not make sense
Substituting one word for another or one sound for another
Speaking unrecognizable words
Difficulty understanding other people's conversation

What Causes Aphasia Disorders?

The most common cause of aphasia is a stroke. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is either blocked or bursts, depriving brain cells of oxygen and nutrients. When this happens in the language centers of the brain, aphasia results. Approximately twenty five to forty percent of stroke survivors acquire aphasia.

Other causes include:

Severe traumatic brain injury from falls or accidents
Brain tumors growing in language areas
Brain infections like encephalitis
Neurodegenerative diseases causing gradual decline
Gunshot wounds or other penetrating head injuries

What Are The Signs of Broca's Aphasia?

Broca's aphasia is often called non fluent aphasia. People with this type of aphasia have extreme difficulty forming words and sentences, and they may speak with great effort. Their speech is often halted and lacks grammatical connecting words like is or the. For example, a person might say "Walk dog" instead of "I will take the dog for a walk."

Key signs include:

Poor speech production with great effort
Omission of small words like is and the
Generally good comprehension of what others say
Awareness of their own difficulties leading to frustration
Weakness or paralysis on the right side of the body

What Are the Signs of Wernicke's Aphasia?

Wernicke's aphasia is often called fluent aphasia. People with this condition can produce speech easily and fluently, but the words they use may not make sense. They often speak in long, complex sentences that have no meaning, often referred to as word salad. They may also create new words.

Key signs include:

Fluid speech that lacks meaning
Severe difficulty understanding what is said to them
Unawareness of their own mistakes
No physical weakness in the body
Using non existent or irrelevant words

What is Anomic Aphasia?

Anomic aphasia is characterized by a persistent inability to find the words for things. This is often called the tip of the tongue phenomenon but it happens constantly. People with anomic aphasia can understand speech well and can read, but they struggle to find names for nouns and verbs.

Characteristics include:

Fluent speech with frequent pauses
Overuse of vague words like thing or stuff
Circumlocution or talking around a word to describe it
Good grammatical structure in sentences
Frustration at knowing the word but not being able to say it

Who is at Risk of Aphasia?

Since stroke is the leading cause of aphasia, the risk factors for aphasia are largely the same as those for stroke. Anyone can acquire aphasia, including children, but it is most common in middle aged and older adults. Managing these risk factors is the best way to prevent the onset of the disorder.

Major risk factors:

High blood pressure or hypertension
High cholesterol levels
Diabetes
Smoking and tobacco use
Atrial fibrillation or irregular heartbeat

Can Temporary Aphasia Occur?

Yes, temporary aphasia can occur. This is usually caused by a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA), also known as a mini stroke. In a TIA, blood flow to the brain is blocked for a short time. Symptoms like difficulty speaking may last for a few minutes or hours and then resolve completely.

Other causes of temporary symptoms:

Migraines with aura
Seizures affecting the language area
Severe urinary tract infections in the elderly
Reaction to certain medications
Transient neurological episodes

Does Aphasia Affect Intelligence?

It is a critical point to reiterate that aphasia affects the ability to communicate, not the ability to think. A person with aphasia usually retains their pre injury intelligence level. They can analyze problems, have opinions, remember faces, and understand social situations, even if they cannot express these thoughts verbally.

Implications of intact intelligence:

They still enjoy their hobbies and interests
They can make decisions about their care with support
They benefit from intellectual stimulation
They feel emotions just as deeply as before
They require respect and adult interaction

What is Primary Progressive Aphasia Symptoms?

Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is different from stroke induced aphasia. It is a neurodegenerative disease where language capabilities slowly decline over time. It is caused by the deterioration of brain tissue in the language centers. Unlike stroke aphasia, which happens suddenly, PPA starts subtly.

Symptoms of PPA:

Gradual loss of the ability to name objects
Increasing difficulty understanding complex sentences
Hesitant speech that becomes worse over years
Eventual loss of the ability to speak or understand
Memory and other cognitive functions stay intact initially

How Does Aphasia Affect Reading and Writing?

Aphasia rarely affects only speech; it usually impacts reading and writing as well. Difficulty reading is known as alexia, and difficulty writing is known as agraphia. The severity of these deficits usually matches the severity of the speech deficit, but not always.

Reading and writing issues: