HUMAN COMMUNICATION Broca Aphasia Aphasia is defined by Websters Dictionary as a "loss or impairment of the power to use or comprehend words

usually resulting from brain damage." In most people the Brocas area is in the lower part of the left frontal lobe. It is one of the main language areas in the cerebral cortex because it controls the motor aspects of speech. Persons with a Broca aphasia can usually understand what words mean but ha!e trouble performing the motor or output aspects of speech. "hus other names for this disorder are #expressi!e# and #motor# aphasia. Depending on the se!erity of the lesion to Broca#s area the symptoms can range from the mildest type $cortical dysarthria% with intact comprehension and the ability to communicate through writing to a complete loss of spea&ing out loud.

Symptoms: A person with aphasia may' (pea& in short or incomplete sentences (pea& in sentences that don#t ma&e sense (pea& unrecogni)able words *ot comprehend other people#s con!ersation Interpret figurati!e language literally Begin to ma&e spelling errors Write sentences that don#t ma&e sense Who has aphasia? Anyone can ac+uire aphasia including children but most people who ha!e aphasia are middle,aged or older. -en and women are e+ually affected. According to the *ational Aphasia Association approximately ./ /// indi!iduals ac+uire aphasia each year from stro&es. About one million people in the 0nited (tates currently ha!e aphasia. Aphasia usually occurs suddenly often as the result of a stro&e or head in1ury but it may also de!elop slowly as in the case of a brain tumor an infection or dementia. "he

disorder impairs the expression and understanding of language as well as reading and writing.

MODELS OF SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANG AGE F N!TIONS IN T"E BRAIN A first model of the general organi)ation of language functions in the brain was proposed by American neurologist *orman 3eschwind in the 245/s and 246/s. According to this model when you h#ar a $or% spo&#' this auditory signal is processed first in your brains primary auditory cortex which then sends it on to the neighbouring Wernic&es area. Wernic&es area associates the structure of this signal with the representation of a word stored in your memory thus enabling you to retrie!e the meaning of the particular word.

BRO!A AP"ASIA Damage to Broca#s area results in Broca(s aphasia. Produces both comprehension and production deficits. 2. 7ong pauses between words. 8"his is called %ysproso%y.9 :. A)rammatism. Agrammatism is the tendency to omit function words as well as endings such as ,ed in indicating past tense. ;unction words are words which tie sentences together' the of is by a etc. <. (ome sound changes simplification of consonant clusters' It#s hard to eat with a speoon har eat wit poon

"his often leads to accompanying %ys*#+ia $reading deficits% and %ys)raphia $writing deficits% for example writing spoon as poon. =. ;rustration. "hey &'o$ there#s something wrong. In sum there is a lot of e!idence that Broca#s is simply a pro%,ctio' deficit $the once pre!ailing !iew%. But there is also e!idence that it is something more. WERNI!KE-S AP"ASIA 7esions in Wernic&e#s area lead to what is called W#r'ic&#(s aphasia. Semantic paraphasias: ;or instance they may say arm when they mean leg. novel word structures. sickser means "doctor" >pombines' the word sick with the ending ,er "his word if it existed might mean something li&e one who engages in some activity related to sickness. Also use complete nonsense words' bangahanga bangahanga bangahanchepie A'omia $"no names"%' cannot reliably find and use nouns $although often they substitute a semantically related word for the appropriate word%. In summary the problems associated with Wernic&e#s aphasia are' S#ma'tic #rrors Word structure errors' sic&ser for doctor >ompletely made,up words $these are called '#o*o)isms% >omprehension problems ?elated $parallel% writing and reading problems ?eading impossible $can identify words but can#t ma&e sense of text%. Anomia' cannot reliably find and use nouns $although often they substitute a semantically related word for the appropriate word%. "hey are often completely unaware of their problem $in sharp contrast with Broca#s patients@%

<

ALE/IA 0 D1SLE/IA A*#+ia is an ac+uired disorder of reading subse+uent to brain in1ury in a person who had pre!iously been literate. "here are se!eral types of alexic disorders which are characteri)ed by the types of paralexias $incorrect production of words in oral reading% produced and by the properties of words that tend to affect reading performance. "hese properties include letter length orthographic regularity part of speech concreteness and familiarity. 23 P,r# A*#+ia Pure alexia is the best,&nown type of ac+uired alexia. Patients with this form of alexia retain the ability to write and spellA and in most cases language functions are normal except that there is often a mild anomia $difficulty in retrie!ing words%. Although patients with pure alexia ha!e great difficulty recogni)ing written words they can recogni)e words that are spelled aloud to them. 43 S,r5ac# A*#+ia Patients with surface alexia appear to rely upon the pronunciations of written words in order to ascertain their meanings. An ob!ious conse+uence of this disorder is an inability to distinguish between homophonic words such as flue flu and flew. "hat is the patient with surface alexia accesses the correct pronunciation of the written word flu but does not &now which of the three words sharing that pronunciation is on the page. 63 Pho'o*o)ica* A*#+ia "he reading of patients with phonological alexia may be seen as the flip side of surface alexic reading. While patients with surface alexia tend to depend upon a "sounding out" process for reading patients with phonological alexia are unable to read !ia this mechanism. "his deficit is manifest in a type of familiarity effect in which words that are &nown may be read well while an un&nown word or a pronounceable nonword $pseudoword% cannot be read. "he lesions that cause phonological alexia are +uite !ariable within the distribution of the left middle cerebral artery. (uperior temporal lobe is fre+uently in!ol!ed. 73 D##p A*#+ia "he defining feature of deep alexia is the production of semantic paraplexias when reading aloud. A semantic par alexia is a type of reading error in which the word

produced is related in meaning to the written target word. "he semantic relationship may ta&e many forms' synonyms $lawyer,,attorney%A antonyms $hot,,cold%A subordinates $bird,,robin%A super ordinates $celery,,!egetable%A attributes $grass,,green%A associates $house,,garden%. All patients with deep alexia ha!e a profound disturbance in pseudo word $pronounceable no word% reading. 7esions associated with deep alexia are typically +uite extensi!e including much of the left frontal lobe and extending posteriorly. !a,s#s Alexia typically occurs following damage to the dominant hemisphere of the brain which is usually the left. It can also occur with lesions to the occipital andBor parietal lobes which are responsible for processing auditory phonological and !isual aspects of language. "he region at the 1unction of occipital and temporal lobes $sometimes called the occipito,temporal 1unction% coordinates information that is gathered from !isual and auditory processing and assigns meaning to the stimulus. Alexia can also occur following damage to the inferior frontal. Damage to these different areas of the cortex result in somewhat different patterns of difficulty in affected indi!iduals. In some cases a stro&e can cause alexia. T1PES OF D1SLE/IA "here are se!eral types of dyslexia $or learning disabilities% that can affect the child#s ability to spell as well as read. "he types are identified by the nature of the problem within the central ner!ous system or brain. 8Tra,ma Dys*#+ia9 usually occurs after some form of brain trauma or in1ury to the area of the brain that controls reading and writing. It is a permanent brain in1ury rarely seen in today#s school,age population because it results from se!ere head in1uries. 8Primary %ys*#+ia9 is a dysfunction of rather than damage to the left side of the brain $cerebral cortex% and does not change with age. Indi!iduals with this type of dyslexia are rarely able to read abo!e a fourth,grade le!el and may struggle with reading spelling and writing as adults. Primary dyslexia is passed in family lines through their genes $hereditary%. It is found more often in boys than in girls.

8S#co'%ary or %#:#*opm#'ta* typ#s o5 %ys*#+ia9 is felt to be caused by hormonal de!elopment or malnutrition during the early stages of fetal de!elopment. Poor parenting abuse neglect andBor poor nutrition during the de!elopmental years / to C are also &nown causes. De!elopmental dyslexia diminishes as the child matures. It is also more common in boys. 8;is,a* %ys*#+ia9 is the term used for the specific learning disability termed !isual processing disorder. "his form of dyslexia is the result of immature de!elopment of not only the eyes but the whole process that gets information from the eyes to the brain. Dyes that are not completely de!eloped will send incomplete information to the brain. Incomplete information to the brain then results in poor comprehension of what the child has read or poor memory of !isual information. (ometimes this process results in number and letter re!ersals and the inability to write symbols in the correct se+uence. 8Pho'o*o)ica* <a,%itory= %ys*#+ia9 refers to the specific learning disability termed auditory processing or the more se!ere condition termed Auditory Processing Disorder $EPD%. "his form of dyslexia in!ol!es difficulty with sounds of letters or groups of letters. When this form of dyslexia is present the sounds are percei!ed as 1umbled or not heard correctly. And 1ust as with !isual processing the brain correctly interprets information that it correctly recei!ed. 8Dyspra+ia9 refers to the learning disability term sensor,motor integration and is a widely per!asi!e motor condition characteri)ed by impairment or immaturity of the organi)ation of mo!ement with associated problems of language perception and thought. "ypically the child in +uestion may be seen to be clumsy and poorly coordinated. "he term dyspraxia is separated into "true dyspraxia" a lifelong condition that responds to some degree to consistent early and structured inter!entionA and Fde!elopmental dyspraxiaG a matter of neurological immaturity a delay rather than a deficit that can be resol!ed o!er time with appropriate treatment. "he problem is that only time determines the difference.

8;#r>a* pra+is9 refers to wea&nesses obser!ed in the mechanisms of speech production such that articulation is impaired and expressi!e language is inhibited. (peech production and articulation are not considered learning disabilities and are addressed by a speech and language therapist. Dys)raphia is the term gi!en to the most significant educational effects of the condition and refers to an inability to hold or control a pencil so that the correct mar&ings can be made on paper. "hese symptoms are most commonly seen as poor letter formation in printing or as poor cursi!e handwriting s&ills. As a specific learning disability these symptoms would be identified as immature fine motor de!elopment. Dysca*c,*ia is a lesser &nown disability similar and potentially related to dyslexia and de!elopmental dyspraxia. "he term refers to an impairment of the ability to sol!e mathematical problems usually resulting from brain dysfunction. It occurs in people across the whole IH range and sufferers often also ha!e difficulties with time measurement and spatial reasoning. Although some researchers belie!e that dyscalculia necessarily implies mathematical reasoning difficulties as well as difficulties with arithmetic operations there is e!idence that an indi!idual might not be able to manipulate the numerals in addition subtraction multiplication and di!ision $or dyscalculia% with no impairment of or e!en giftedness in abstract mathematical reasoning abilities. Broca(s ar#a a'% W#r'ic&#(s ar#a are both associated with speech. Broca#s area is associated with the production of speech. It controls the flow of words from brain to mouth. Wernic&e#s area is associated with the interpretation and understanding of speech. Dys*#+ia 0 A*#+ia $"he Inability to ?ead% Dyslexia is a disturbance in the ability to read whereas alexia refers to a complete loss of reading ability. In general whereas dyslexia is primarily a congenital disturbance alexia is an ac+uired disorder and is due to a neurological in1ury generally in the !icinity of the temporal occipital parietal lobe. A7DIIA