What causes aphasia?

Aphasia is caused by damage to one or more of the language areas of the brain. M
any times, the cause of the brain injury is a stroke. A stroke occurs when, for
some reason, blood is unable to reach a part of the brain. Brain cells die when
they do not receive their normal supply of blood, which carries oxygen and impor
tant nutrients. Other causes of brain injury are

severe blows to the head, brain tumors, brain infections, and other conditions o
f the brain. Aphasia can develop after an individual sustains a brain injury fro
m a stroke, head trauma, tumor, or infection, such as herpes encephalitis. As a
result of this injury, the pathways for language comprehension or production are
disrupted or destroyed. For most people, this means damage to the left hemisphe
re of the brain. (In 95 to 99% of right-handed people, language centers are in t
he left hemisphere, and up to 70% of left-handed people also have left-hemispher
e language dominance.) According to the traditional classification scheme, each
form of aphasia is caused by damage to a different part of the left hemisphere o
f the brain. This damage affects one or more of the basic language functions: sp
eech, naming (the ability to identify an object, color, or other item with an ap
propriate word or term), repetition (the ability to repeat words, phrases, and s
entences), hearing comprehension (the ability to understand spoken language), re
ading (the ability to understand written words and their meaning), and writing (
the ability to communicate and record events with text).
More information on aphasia
What is aphasia? - Aphasia is a defect or loss of language function in which the
comprehension or expression of words (or nonverbal equivalents of words) is imp
aired as a result of brain injury.
What is Broca's aphasia? - Broca's aphasia, also called motor aphasia, results f
rom damage to the front portion or frontal lobe of the language-dominant area of
the brain.
What is Wernicke's aphasia? - Wernicke's aphasia is caused by damage to the side
portion or temporal lobe of the language-dominant area of the brain.
What is global aphasia? - Global aphasia is caused by widespread damage to the l
anguage areas of the left hemisphere. As a result, all basic language functions
are affected.
What is nominal aphasia? - Nominal aphasia is a form of aphasia in which the sub
ject has difficulty remembering or recognizing names which the subject should kn
ow well.
What is conduction aphasia? - Conduction aphasia is a relatively rare form of ap
hasia, caused by damage to the nerve fibres connecting Wernicke's and Broca's ar
eas.
What causes aphasia? - Aphasia is caused by damage to one or more of the languag
e areas of the brain. This damage affects one or more of the basic language func
tions.
How is aphasia diagnosed? - Commonly used tests to diagnose aphasia include the
Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination, the Western Aphasia Battery, and possibly
, the Porch Index of Speech Ability.
What's the treatment for aphasia? - Aphasia treatment therapy strives to improve
an individual's ability to communicate by helping the person to use remaining a
bilities, to restore language abilities.
What's the prognosis of aphasia? - The outcome of aphasia is difficult to predic
t given the wide range of variability of the condition. The location of the inju
ry is important and is clue to prognosis.