APHASIA | DEFINITION, TYPES, CAUSES, SYMPTOMS & EXAM STUDY GUIDE
2026/2027
Definition of Aphasia - ANS ✔✔-A speech or language disorder caused by damage to the parts
of the brain that control speech and language: typically as the result of a cerebrovascular
accident (CVA) or stroke
Expressive Aphasia - ANS ✔✔-Difficulty using words and producing words
Receptive Aphasia - ANS ✔✔-Difficulty understanding words and sentences
Global Aphasia - ANS ✔✔-Difficulty with both expression and understanding
Prevalence of Aphasia - ANS ✔✔-Approximately 1 million people in the US are living with
aphasia due to various brain traumas
-Around 80,000 people acquire aphasia each year
Classification System of Aphasia - ANS ✔✔-Varies widely: there are more than 20 currently
-Systems vary primarily in terminology, but agree upon clinical classification of aphasias
-2 classification systems that primarily guide our thinking:
1. Boston Group
2. Luria
Boston Group (Primary Classification System) - ANS ✔✔1. Aphasias are fluent (Wernicke's) or
non-fluent (Broca's)
2. Aphasias can be cortical, subcortical, or transcortical
-cortical:external structure of the brain (wernicke's and broca's area are part of the cortex)
, -subcortical: deeper structure below the surface
-transcortical: different area of the cortex
What is damaged in Wernicke's (Fluent) Aphasia: - ANS ✔✔-Damage to the posterior section of
the superior temporal gyrus
Wernicke's (Fluent) Aphasia Symptoms - ANS ✔✔-Characterized by primary difficulty finding
words: severely limited access to existing vocabulary
-Severe circumlocution
-"empty speech:" words have lost their paradigmatic meaning
-Comprehension of language compromised
-Words and their meanings appear to be disassociated: (*Ex- people can describe something
and not think of the word for it or they are given a word and can't say what it means)
-grammar appears to be spared
amnesic/anomic and nominal aphasias - ANS ✔✔-subtypes of Wernicke's
-Involve impairment of semantic representations
circumlocution - ANS ✔✔-the use of many words where fewer would do, especially in a
deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive.
-talking around the word - definitions of the word are known but not associated
What is damaged in Broca's (Nonfluent) Aphasia? - ANS ✔✔-Damage to the frontal lobe:
inferior frontal gyrus
Broca's (Nonfluent) Aphasia Symptoms - ANS ✔✔-Lose the ability to combine linguistic
elements; grammar is severely restricted or absent (expressive language deficit)
2026/2027
Definition of Aphasia - ANS ✔✔-A speech or language disorder caused by damage to the parts
of the brain that control speech and language: typically as the result of a cerebrovascular
accident (CVA) or stroke
Expressive Aphasia - ANS ✔✔-Difficulty using words and producing words
Receptive Aphasia - ANS ✔✔-Difficulty understanding words and sentences
Global Aphasia - ANS ✔✔-Difficulty with both expression and understanding
Prevalence of Aphasia - ANS ✔✔-Approximately 1 million people in the US are living with
aphasia due to various brain traumas
-Around 80,000 people acquire aphasia each year
Classification System of Aphasia - ANS ✔✔-Varies widely: there are more than 20 currently
-Systems vary primarily in terminology, but agree upon clinical classification of aphasias
-2 classification systems that primarily guide our thinking:
1. Boston Group
2. Luria
Boston Group (Primary Classification System) - ANS ✔✔1. Aphasias are fluent (Wernicke's) or
non-fluent (Broca's)
2. Aphasias can be cortical, subcortical, or transcortical
-cortical:external structure of the brain (wernicke's and broca's area are part of the cortex)
, -subcortical: deeper structure below the surface
-transcortical: different area of the cortex
What is damaged in Wernicke's (Fluent) Aphasia: - ANS ✔✔-Damage to the posterior section of
the superior temporal gyrus
Wernicke's (Fluent) Aphasia Symptoms - ANS ✔✔-Characterized by primary difficulty finding
words: severely limited access to existing vocabulary
-Severe circumlocution
-"empty speech:" words have lost their paradigmatic meaning
-Comprehension of language compromised
-Words and their meanings appear to be disassociated: (*Ex- people can describe something
and not think of the word for it or they are given a word and can't say what it means)
-grammar appears to be spared
amnesic/anomic and nominal aphasias - ANS ✔✔-subtypes of Wernicke's
-Involve impairment of semantic representations
circumlocution - ANS ✔✔-the use of many words where fewer would do, especially in a
deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive.
-talking around the word - definitions of the word are known but not associated
What is damaged in Broca's (Nonfluent) Aphasia? - ANS ✔✔-Damage to the frontal lobe:
inferior frontal gyrus
Broca's (Nonfluent) Aphasia Symptoms - ANS ✔✔-Lose the ability to combine linguistic
elements; grammar is severely restricted or absent (expressive language deficit)
