Adult Language Disorders & Aphasiology Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering cerebrovascular accidents, brain anatomy, aphasia subtypes, language error patterns, and neuroimaging concepts based on the midterm study guide.

Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)

A medical emergency (stroke) caused by a temporary or permanent disruption of blood supply to the brain due to an arterial blockage, blood clot, or bleeding in/around brain tissue.

Dura Mater

The thick outer layer of the meninges that protects the central nervous system.

Arachnoid Mater

The spongey middle layer of the meninges that protects the central nervous system.

Pia Mater

The thin inner layer of the meninges that extends into all grooves of the brain.

Ischemic Stroke

A stroke type accounting for 85% of cases, caused by a blockage of blood supply in an artery to an area of the brain.

Thrombotic Stroke

A subtype of ischemic stroke caused by a blood clot formed directly within a blood vessel.

Embolic Stroke

A type of occlusive stroke in which a blockage (typically a blood clot or atherosclerotic plaque) travels from elsewhere in the bloodstream to block an artery in the brain.

Hemorrhagic Stroke

A stroke type accounting for 15% of cases (and more likely to be fatal) caused by bleeding inside or around brain tissue, such as from an aneurysm or AVM.

Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)

Also known as a 'mini stroke,' a temporary blockage of blood supply to the brain where all symptoms resolve within 24 hours.

Atherosclerosis

A condition characterized by the buildup of fatty deposits and matters within arteries, serving as a primary cause of occlusive stroke.

Circle of Willis

A vascular structure allowing collateral circulation of blood to the brain in case primary channels of blood flow become blocked.

Ischemic Penumbra

An area of reduced blood flow in neural tissue surrounding an infarct.

Aneurysm

A bulging out at a weakened spot along an arterial wall.

Hemiparesis

Muscle weakness typically affecting one side of the body, opposite the side of the brain injury.

Hemiplegia

Total paralysis typically affecting one side of the body, opposite the side of the brain injury; commonly seen in patients with Broca's aphasia.

Ataxia

Trouble walking or loss of balance and coordination following a neurological event.

Dysphagia

Swallowing difficulty occurring as a physiological effect of stroke.

Aphasia

An acquired, multimodal language disorder of neurological origin that affects expressive and receptive communication across speech, auditory comprehension, reading, and writing.

Agraphia

A disorder of written expression.

Anomia

Word retrieval difficulty, recognized as the core symptom of aphasia.

Circumlocution

The technical term for 'talking around' a target word by using alternate expressions or descriptions without uttering the target word.

Neologistic Error

A paraphasic error involving the substitution of a non-real or invented word (e.g., 'fludmuf').

Semantic Paraphasia

A paraphasic error involving the substitution of an unintended real word for the target word (e.g., 'floor' for 'pencil').

Phonemic Paraphasia

A paraphasic error involving a sound substitution or distortion within a word (e.g., 'tencil' for 'pencil').

Agrammatism

A pattern typical of nonfluent aphasia where speech consists mainly of substantive words with omission of functor words such as articles, pronouns, and verb inflections.

Paragrammatism

A pattern typical of fluent aphasia involving the misuse of grammar, such as incorrect tense markers or incorrect pronoun usage.

Perseveration

Inappropriate repetition or continuation of an earlier response after task requirements have changed.

Stuck-in-set Perseveration

Inappropriate maintenance of a category or response framework after a new task has been introduced.

Continuous Perseveration

Inappropriate prolongation or continuation of a behavior without an intervening stimulus or response.

Recurrent Perseveration

Inappropriate recurrence of a previous response following presentation of a new stimulus or after giving an intervening response.

Global Aphasia

The most severe nonfluent aphasia, characterized by virtually no speech output, stereotypic utterances, severely impaired auditory comprehension, poor repetition, and profound anomia.

Mixed Nonfluent Aphasia

A nonfluent aphasia characterized by relatively poor auditory comprehension and poor repetition, frequently seen during recovery from global aphasia.

Broca's Aphasia

A nonfluent aphasia associated with Brodmann's areas 44 and 45, marked by agrammatism, effortful articulation, relatively good auditory comprehension, poor repetition, and frequent hemiplegia and depression.

Transcortical Motor Aphasia

A nonfluent aphasia characterized by short utterances with minimal articulatory effort, relatively good auditory comprehension, and good repetition skills.

Wernicke's Aphasia

A fluent aphasia associated with Brodmann's areas 21 and 22, characterized by poor auditory comprehension, poor repetition, press of speech (logorrhea), jargon, word salad, and poor self-monitoring.

Transcortical Sensory Aphasia

A fluent aphasia characterized by ease of production, grammatical structure, poor auditory comprehension, good repetition, and frequent semantic paraphasias.

Conduction Aphasia

A fluent aphasia caused by a lesion in the arcuate fasciculus, characterized by pauses for word retrieval, good auditory comprehension, and poor repetition with phonemic paraphasias.

Anomic Aphasia

A fluent aphasia characterized primarily by word retrieval difficulties across verbal tasks, with relatively good auditory comprehension, relatively good repetition, and frequent circumlocutions.

Arcuate Fasciculus

The white matter tract providing primary anatomical connection between Wernicke's and Broca's areas.

Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA)

A clot-dissolving medication administered for ischemic CVA when a patient arrives within 3 hours of symptom onset.

Primary Motor Cortex

Located in the precentral gyrus of the frontal lobe; controls voluntary motor movements.

Primary Sensory Cortex

Located in the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe; processes tactile physical sensations.

Neuroplasticity

The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections, allowing healthy brain regions to take over linguistic tasks guided by therapy.

Therapy vs. Treatment

Therapy refers to hands-on clinical techniques and session methods; Treatment is the broader plan comprising assessment, goal formulation, strategies, and progress monitoring.

Logorrhea

Excessive, rapid, and uninterrupted fluent speech output (press of speech) typical of Wernicke's aphasia.