Brain Damage

Aphasia

Language impairments that occur as a consequence of brain damage.

Receptive aphasia

Problems understanding speech.

Expressive aphasia

Problems producing speech.

Broca's aphasia

Problems producing speech related to damage of the left frontal area of the brain; speech output is reduced in phrase length and grammatical complexity.

Wernicke's aphasia

Problems understanding speech; speech has a normal rate of production but contains 'neologisms'.

Dorso-lateral frontal lobes

Area of the brain associated with Broca's area.

Superior temporal gyrus

Area of the brain associated with Wernicke's area.

Lateralized cognitive function

Language is usually left-hemisphere dominant.

Arcuate fasciculus

Fibres which connect the Wernicke's area (input) to Broca's area (output).

Conduction aphasia

Disruption of flow of information between Wernicke and Broca's area, leading to severely impaired word repetition.