APHASIA EXAM 1 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS | APHASIA STUDY
GUIDE 2026/2027
Frontal Lobe - ANS ✔✔functions: judgement, reasoning, foresight, decision making, attention,
affect, general intellect, philosophies, religion, politics, basic personality & character. lesions can
cause impaired judgment, reasoning, foresight, decision making, and decrease in general
intellectual capacities Tx: help the patient with skills of expression, comprehension, and
communication.
angular gyrus - ANS ✔✔Location: junction of the parietal, occipital and temporal lobes Function
Word retrieval/word finding. Reading and writing (Writing and reading are language activities
lesions: Anomia: difficulty word finding/retrieval reading and writing problems Tx applications:
1.) Tx for word retrieval (Finding) 2.) Tx for reading & writing
Prosopagnosia - ANS ✔✔difficulty recognizing familiar faces (family, famous people, even self)
Tx- use pictures of family members & close friends
Counseling:• Explain problems to the pt & family; teach them to speak as they enter room;
maybe wear familiar clothing; show pt pictures of family
Heschl's gyrus (primary auditory cortex) - ANS ✔✔Location - Superior Temporal Gyrus Stimuli
Functions- Receives and perceives auditory stimuli.
Lesions• Difficulty perceiving human speech and environmental sounds • Auditory agnosia:
Impaired ability to recognize sounds and words when heard, but may recognize them through
other modalities Tx need to repeat & cue use visual & tactile cues to support auditory input
Wernicke's area (primary language association cortex) - ANS ✔✔Location : Middle & inferior
temporal gyri Functions Comprehension, Integration & Formulation of language (speech,
written and gestural language) - Comprehends sound
- Integrates sound and connects to senses and memory Lesions:
,Difficulty comprehending language- Aphasia: a deficit in the ability to process symbolic
materials (auditory, visual & tactile) and (speaking, writing & gesturing) Tx: Be patient Use
normal volume Look at the patient as you speak - Say their name - Use simple words in short
sentences Clear statements (Rule of 5)use 5 letter words and five word sentences
right hemisphere - ANS ✔✔Function attention Sensation & motor control of left side of body
patial relationships Appreciation of art & architecture
Temporal orientation Music awareness & appreciation
Insight, intuition & imagination Processing prosody Pragmatics
Forming a Gestalt (having a "sense" of the "whole picture")
Right hemisphere is used along with the left hemisphere when processing all language lesions
Difficulty with any or all of the above functions Self-focused Verbal - loquacious (tending to talk
a great deal; talkative.) Appear more normal than left hemisphere pts because they are verbal
Left side weakness Tx Right hemisphere damaged pts are some of the most challenging pts;
unusual & unexpected behaviors Pts may have bilateral
hippocampus - ANS ✔✔Functions: Essential for immediate or working memory
Effects of lesion: Decrease or loss of ability to remember recent experiences TxTeach patient to
tape record and/or write notes about daily experience.
amygdala - ANS ✔✔Location Lower region of temporal lobe; connects to hippocampus
Functions1. Receives sensory information 2. Provides emotional content to memories 3.
influence drive-related behaviors (e.g., motivation) & subjective feelings (calmness, anxiety,
fear) Lesions 1. Low emotional association with memories, which can affect motivation2. Low
ability to express emotions 3. Low ability to recognize emotional facial expressions Tx Patients
may have low motivation for treatment, affecting their progress
components of cognition - ANS ✔✔the mental process by which knowledge is acquired;
thinking.
1. Arousal 2. Attention 3. Memory- immediate (working memory; about 1 minute), short term
(recent memory about 1 week), and long term (life time) 4. Orientation- ability to understand
, self and relationship to self and environment 5. Sequencing- ability to order a task from start to
finish 6. Organization of Information 7. Reasoning-8. Judgement and Problem Solving- defining a
problem, predicting consequences, developing alternate strategies, and evaluating results
Circle of Willis - ANS ✔✔located in center of brain, just above brain stem. It functions as "safety
valve" so that occlusion of any one artery below the Circle of Willis will not totally deprive the
brain of blood. Lesions to this area can cause partial to total occlusion (e.g., arteriosclerosis)
which can block blood flow to various areas of the brain. Major arteries exiting the Circle of
Willis include the Anterior Cerebral Artery which supplies anterior portion of brain (frontal
lobes), portions of parietal lobes, and anterior of corpus callosum. Lesions decreased blood flow
which can cause decreased function of the frontal and parietal lobes, and can cause possible
decrease of function of the corpus callosum
effects of decreased blood flow through the middle cerebral artery - ANS ✔✔associated with
damage to the language areas of the brain. Cause of 3 most common...aphasia
syndromes.Occlusion of the anterior branch of the MCA ocauses Broca's aphasia (non-fluent
aphasia). Broca's (near primary motor cortex for the face, hand and arm) usually have right-
sided hemiparesis or hemiplegia.Occlusion of the posterior branch of the MCA often causes
Wernickes aphasia (fluent aphasia) few patients with Wernickes aphasia are hemiparetic or
hemiplegic.Occlusion of the main trunk of the MCA usually causes global aphasia.Perisylvian
region- in the left frontal lobe plays an important part in speech, writing and gestures. Global
aphasia is the most severe type of aphasia. It is often seen right after someone has a stroke.
With global aphasia, the person has difficulty speaking and understanding words. In addition,
the person is unable to read or write.
What areas do each of the cerebral arteries supply with blood? - ANS ✔✔The anterior cerebral
artery supply blood to:
-Upper and anterior regions of the frontal lobes
-Some portions of Parietal lobes
-Corpus callosum (anterior)
The middle cerebral artery have fan-shaped distributions and supply: -Most of the lateral
surfaces of the brain hemispheres
-most of the parietal and temporal lobes
GUIDE 2026/2027
Frontal Lobe - ANS ✔✔functions: judgement, reasoning, foresight, decision making, attention,
affect, general intellect, philosophies, religion, politics, basic personality & character. lesions can
cause impaired judgment, reasoning, foresight, decision making, and decrease in general
intellectual capacities Tx: help the patient with skills of expression, comprehension, and
communication.
angular gyrus - ANS ✔✔Location: junction of the parietal, occipital and temporal lobes Function
Word retrieval/word finding. Reading and writing (Writing and reading are language activities
lesions: Anomia: difficulty word finding/retrieval reading and writing problems Tx applications:
1.) Tx for word retrieval (Finding) 2.) Tx for reading & writing
Prosopagnosia - ANS ✔✔difficulty recognizing familiar faces (family, famous people, even self)
Tx- use pictures of family members & close friends
Counseling:• Explain problems to the pt & family; teach them to speak as they enter room;
maybe wear familiar clothing; show pt pictures of family
Heschl's gyrus (primary auditory cortex) - ANS ✔✔Location - Superior Temporal Gyrus Stimuli
Functions- Receives and perceives auditory stimuli.
Lesions• Difficulty perceiving human speech and environmental sounds • Auditory agnosia:
Impaired ability to recognize sounds and words when heard, but may recognize them through
other modalities Tx need to repeat & cue use visual & tactile cues to support auditory input
Wernicke's area (primary language association cortex) - ANS ✔✔Location : Middle & inferior
temporal gyri Functions Comprehension, Integration & Formulation of language (speech,
written and gestural language) - Comprehends sound
- Integrates sound and connects to senses and memory Lesions:
,Difficulty comprehending language- Aphasia: a deficit in the ability to process symbolic
materials (auditory, visual & tactile) and (speaking, writing & gesturing) Tx: Be patient Use
normal volume Look at the patient as you speak - Say their name - Use simple words in short
sentences Clear statements (Rule of 5)use 5 letter words and five word sentences
right hemisphere - ANS ✔✔Function attention Sensation & motor control of left side of body
patial relationships Appreciation of art & architecture
Temporal orientation Music awareness & appreciation
Insight, intuition & imagination Processing prosody Pragmatics
Forming a Gestalt (having a "sense" of the "whole picture")
Right hemisphere is used along with the left hemisphere when processing all language lesions
Difficulty with any or all of the above functions Self-focused Verbal - loquacious (tending to talk
a great deal; talkative.) Appear more normal than left hemisphere pts because they are verbal
Left side weakness Tx Right hemisphere damaged pts are some of the most challenging pts;
unusual & unexpected behaviors Pts may have bilateral
hippocampus - ANS ✔✔Functions: Essential for immediate or working memory
Effects of lesion: Decrease or loss of ability to remember recent experiences TxTeach patient to
tape record and/or write notes about daily experience.
amygdala - ANS ✔✔Location Lower region of temporal lobe; connects to hippocampus
Functions1. Receives sensory information 2. Provides emotional content to memories 3.
influence drive-related behaviors (e.g., motivation) & subjective feelings (calmness, anxiety,
fear) Lesions 1. Low emotional association with memories, which can affect motivation2. Low
ability to express emotions 3. Low ability to recognize emotional facial expressions Tx Patients
may have low motivation for treatment, affecting their progress
components of cognition - ANS ✔✔the mental process by which knowledge is acquired;
thinking.
1. Arousal 2. Attention 3. Memory- immediate (working memory; about 1 minute), short term
(recent memory about 1 week), and long term (life time) 4. Orientation- ability to understand
, self and relationship to self and environment 5. Sequencing- ability to order a task from start to
finish 6. Organization of Information 7. Reasoning-8. Judgement and Problem Solving- defining a
problem, predicting consequences, developing alternate strategies, and evaluating results
Circle of Willis - ANS ✔✔located in center of brain, just above brain stem. It functions as "safety
valve" so that occlusion of any one artery below the Circle of Willis will not totally deprive the
brain of blood. Lesions to this area can cause partial to total occlusion (e.g., arteriosclerosis)
which can block blood flow to various areas of the brain. Major arteries exiting the Circle of
Willis include the Anterior Cerebral Artery which supplies anterior portion of brain (frontal
lobes), portions of parietal lobes, and anterior of corpus callosum. Lesions decreased blood flow
which can cause decreased function of the frontal and parietal lobes, and can cause possible
decrease of function of the corpus callosum
effects of decreased blood flow through the middle cerebral artery - ANS ✔✔associated with
damage to the language areas of the brain. Cause of 3 most common...aphasia
syndromes.Occlusion of the anterior branch of the MCA ocauses Broca's aphasia (non-fluent
aphasia). Broca's (near primary motor cortex for the face, hand and arm) usually have right-
sided hemiparesis or hemiplegia.Occlusion of the posterior branch of the MCA often causes
Wernickes aphasia (fluent aphasia) few patients with Wernickes aphasia are hemiparetic or
hemiplegic.Occlusion of the main trunk of the MCA usually causes global aphasia.Perisylvian
region- in the left frontal lobe plays an important part in speech, writing and gestures. Global
aphasia is the most severe type of aphasia. It is often seen right after someone has a stroke.
With global aphasia, the person has difficulty speaking and understanding words. In addition,
the person is unable to read or write.
What areas do each of the cerebral arteries supply with blood? - ANS ✔✔The anterior cerebral
artery supply blood to:
-Upper and anterior regions of the frontal lobes
-Some portions of Parietal lobes
-Corpus callosum (anterior)
The middle cerebral artery have fan-shaped distributions and supply: -Most of the lateral
surfaces of the brain hemispheres
-most of the parietal and temporal lobes
