Broca's aphasia

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Revision as of 22:07, 21 April 2008

Etiology

After a post-mortem autopsy of patient “Tan” (nicknamed for the only sound he could successfully utter), Paul Broca discovered damage to the left posterior frontal gyrus (more specifically, the posterior surface of the third frontal gyrus). This discovery, made in 1861, lead Broca to conclude that Tan’s lesion covered an area of the brain important for speech production.

Characteristics of Broca's Aphasia

Because the central feature of this aphasia involves difficulty producing coherent speech, alternative names include expressive or non-fluent aphasia. “Telegraphic Speech” is often used to categorize Broca’s aphasics, since their speech is deliberate, slow, and marked by several pauses. The difficulties in their speech patterns often transfer into a comparable writing deficiency, suggesting that the problem is not related to physical muscle-movements associated with language production. Prepositions, conjunctions, and other relational words are often omitted from speech, so Broca’s aphasics utilize a very simple grammatical structure, producing only the most basic of sentences. Interestingly, personal catchphrases and emotional expressions are often stated quickly and clearly, which may point to processing in other areas of the brain for some language functions. Generally speaking, Broca’s aphasics retain comprehension skills and have an understanding of their condition. However, there is some evidence that Broca’s aphasics are impaired in their understanding of 3-step processes, complex language input, and numbers or symbols. The lesion that causes Broca’s aphasia may also lead to a paralyzed right hand, paralysis of the right arm, right-sided sensory loss and, in rare cases, a visual-field defect. Video of Broca's aphasia

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