APHASIA EXAM 1 REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS | APHASIA STUDY GUIDE
2026/2027
aphasia - ANS ✔✔an acquired communication disorder caused by brain damage that impairs a
person's ability to understand, produce and use language
-can affect all aspects of language
-it is a reduction; problem accessing the information
-intelligence is NOT affected
early models of aphasia - ANS ✔✔no one theory of aphasia is comprehensive enough to explain
the range of behaviors represented
not a linear trajectory of thinking/change
-still require continual appraisal of model(s) with dynamic and more integrated aspects (neural
networks)
classical associative connectionist theory - ANS ✔✔assumes language centers are located in
discrete regions of the association cortex
information flows on dedicated pathways between centers
based on neoclassical connectionist model of aphasia
PROBLEMS:
-broad Sx are linked to anatomic structures
-oversimplifies complex Sx
,-doesn't account for large majority of Sx complexes
language is now viewed from an: - ANS ✔✔information processing perspective
-avoids attaching function to discrete neural structures
holists - ANS ✔✔VIEW: *mental function was product of entire brain working as a unit*
-no distinct language centers
intellectual levels of speech (vs. emotional/automatic) is what is impaired in PWA
knowledge of pathological conditions that disturb & impair function doesn't provide info as to
how function is normally controlled in healthy people
traditional localizationist approaches - ANS ✔✔VIEW: *specific mental functions were
subserved by specific areas of the brain*
-can only be shown by autopsy
Paul Broca - ANS ✔✔came up with term *Aphemia* which was later replaced by Broca's
aphasia
-decreased verbal output
-halting, effortful speech
-impaired reading & writing
-comprehension spared
-now c/w AOS
,"loss of articulate speech is associated with destruction of posterior portion of 3rd frontal
convolution"
Broca's Aphasia - ANS ✔✔aka nonfluent aphasia
damage to "motor images"
language comprehension skills relatively preserved
typically observed in patients with damage to L inferior prefrontal cortex (language area 44-45)
Carl Wernicke - ANS ✔✔described patients whose speech is fluent, but has no informational
value
-neologisms
-"fluent nonsense"; no informational content
-preserved function words, impaired content words
-comprehension impaired
explained development of brain speech centers in terms of reflex arc connecting sensory
memory images to motor memories
Wernicke's Aphasia - ANS ✔✔aka fluent aphasia or "sensory aphasia"
fluent, disordered speech
-parallel disturbances in writing & reading
-impaired comprehension
, damage to auditory association cortex of L hem.
-posterior part of superior temporal gyrus (1st temporal gyrus)
-associated with L temporal lobe damage
Hildred Schuell - ANS ✔✔VIEW: *language functions are no longer accessible - unidimensional
framework*
-language performance is impaired; language competence remains
-Tx = facilitate & stimulate language use
-Dx = MTDDA
Neoclassicism/Neoconnectionism - ANS ✔✔VIEW: *language processing is a form of
information processing*
-specific areas (e.g. Broca's & Wernicke's areas) of L hem have a narrowly specialized function in
language processing
-these areas are connected via arcuate fasciculus & angular gyrus - mediating btw visual &
auditory info
multidimensional framework - each different form of aphasia corresponds to a different
underlying site of lesion and has a different symptom complex
predates brain imaging - questionable theory
uses BDAE to classify aphasia based upon functional profiles that emerge from testing &
subsequent localization of lesion
dominant paradigm represented by the BDAE classification system - ANS ✔✔majority use this
system that reflects the classical associative connectionist approach and the fluent/nonfluent
dichotomy
2026/2027
aphasia - ANS ✔✔an acquired communication disorder caused by brain damage that impairs a
person's ability to understand, produce and use language
-can affect all aspects of language
-it is a reduction; problem accessing the information
-intelligence is NOT affected
early models of aphasia - ANS ✔✔no one theory of aphasia is comprehensive enough to explain
the range of behaviors represented
not a linear trajectory of thinking/change
-still require continual appraisal of model(s) with dynamic and more integrated aspects (neural
networks)
classical associative connectionist theory - ANS ✔✔assumes language centers are located in
discrete regions of the association cortex
information flows on dedicated pathways between centers
based on neoclassical connectionist model of aphasia
PROBLEMS:
-broad Sx are linked to anatomic structures
-oversimplifies complex Sx
,-doesn't account for large majority of Sx complexes
language is now viewed from an: - ANS ✔✔information processing perspective
-avoids attaching function to discrete neural structures
holists - ANS ✔✔VIEW: *mental function was product of entire brain working as a unit*
-no distinct language centers
intellectual levels of speech (vs. emotional/automatic) is what is impaired in PWA
knowledge of pathological conditions that disturb & impair function doesn't provide info as to
how function is normally controlled in healthy people
traditional localizationist approaches - ANS ✔✔VIEW: *specific mental functions were
subserved by specific areas of the brain*
-can only be shown by autopsy
Paul Broca - ANS ✔✔came up with term *Aphemia* which was later replaced by Broca's
aphasia
-decreased verbal output
-halting, effortful speech
-impaired reading & writing
-comprehension spared
-now c/w AOS
,"loss of articulate speech is associated with destruction of posterior portion of 3rd frontal
convolution"
Broca's Aphasia - ANS ✔✔aka nonfluent aphasia
damage to "motor images"
language comprehension skills relatively preserved
typically observed in patients with damage to L inferior prefrontal cortex (language area 44-45)
Carl Wernicke - ANS ✔✔described patients whose speech is fluent, but has no informational
value
-neologisms
-"fluent nonsense"; no informational content
-preserved function words, impaired content words
-comprehension impaired
explained development of brain speech centers in terms of reflex arc connecting sensory
memory images to motor memories
Wernicke's Aphasia - ANS ✔✔aka fluent aphasia or "sensory aphasia"
fluent, disordered speech
-parallel disturbances in writing & reading
-impaired comprehension
, damage to auditory association cortex of L hem.
-posterior part of superior temporal gyrus (1st temporal gyrus)
-associated with L temporal lobe damage
Hildred Schuell - ANS ✔✔VIEW: *language functions are no longer accessible - unidimensional
framework*
-language performance is impaired; language competence remains
-Tx = facilitate & stimulate language use
-Dx = MTDDA
Neoclassicism/Neoconnectionism - ANS ✔✔VIEW: *language processing is a form of
information processing*
-specific areas (e.g. Broca's & Wernicke's areas) of L hem have a narrowly specialized function in
language processing
-these areas are connected via arcuate fasciculus & angular gyrus - mediating btw visual &
auditory info
multidimensional framework - each different form of aphasia corresponds to a different
underlying site of lesion and has a different symptom complex
predates brain imaging - questionable theory
uses BDAE to classify aphasia based upon functional profiles that emerge from testing &
subsequent localization of lesion
dominant paradigm represented by the BDAE classification system - ANS ✔✔majority use this
system that reflects the classical associative connectionist approach and the fluent/nonfluent
dichotomy
