Brain & Nervous System Stroke Living With Aphasia: 3 Types That Can Result From Stroke The Loss of Communication Skills Due to Brain Injury By Jose Vega MD, PhD Updated on March 27, 2024 Medically reviewed by Smita Patel, DO Print Table of Contents View All Table of Contents What Is Aphasia? Symptoms Diagnosis Types of Aphasia Treatment Aphasia means you have trouble speaking, writing, or understanding language. Aphasia happens when a part of the brain associated with language (the frontal lobe, the temporal lobe, or the parietal lobe) is damaged. Aphasia is common after a stroke but can also be caused by a traumatic brain injury, a brain tumor, or an infection of the brain. This article will focus on the three types of post-stroke aphasia. You will learn how each type of aphasia is different and how post-stroke aphasia is diagnosed. Can a Stroke Cause Frontal Lobe Brain Damage? What Is Aphasia? The most common cause of aphasia is a stroke because of how the blood vessels are arranged in the brain. The frontal lobe of your brain controls your cognitive (thinking) abilities, the temporal lobe processes memories, and the parietal lobe is in charge of information about taste, touch, movement, and temperature. Several regions of the brain control language. The language function is located in one hemisphere (half) of the brain, which is called the dominant hemisphere. Typically, the dominant hemisphere of the brain is on the opposite side as your dominant hand (the hand you write with). If one of the language regions of the brain is injured but the others are healthy, only some language functions are affected. What Does It Mean to Have Aphasia? Symptoms of Aphasia After a Stroke People with post-stroke aphasia may have trouble talking or understanding what other people are saying when they're talking. They may also struggle to communicate in other ways like writing. Verywell / JR Bee Some people with aphasia after a stroke are still able to speak but may struggle to "find the right word" when they're talking. They may also start forgetting words or using the wrong words when they talk. A person with post-stroke aphasia may: Substitute one word for another in a way that doesn't make senseSubstitute one sound for another so that a word doesn't make senseSpeak in incomplete sentences, often stopping mid-sentencePut words together that don't make senseWriting sentences that don't make senseUse words that are unrecognizableStruggle to find otherwise simple wordsHave difficulty understanding words or what is being said to themHave difficulty comprehending what they are reading How Common Is Post-Stroke Aphasia? About 15% of people under age 65 who have a stroke develop some form of aphasia. Nearly 45% of people over age 85 develop post-stroke aphasia. Diagnosing Aphasia After a Stroke Post-stroke aphasia is diagnosed in the same way as aphasia from any other cause. After a physical exam and review of your medical history, imaging studies and evaluative tests would be ordered to help confirm the cause and characterize the nature and severity of the conditions. Imaging studies typically include: Computed tomography (CT) scan: This is a technology that composites multiple X-rays to create a three-dimensional image of the brain. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): This imaging study used powerful magnetic and radio waves to create highly detailed images of soft tissues like the brain. MRI is the most accurate way to detect signs of a stroke, but a CT scan is faster and more widely available. Healthcare providers often use CT first in people with a suspected stroke and MRI afterward to get a more detailed image. You would likely be to referred to a speech-language pathologist to undergo a battery of spoken and written tests to characterize the nature and extent of aphasia. The aim of the language assessment tests is to determine if you are able to: Read and writeFollow instructionsUnderstand and use words correctlyRepeat words that are spoken to youName common objectsAnswer to yes or no questionsRespond to open-ended questionsAnswer questions about something you just readEngage in a back-and-forth conversation Can Post-Stroke Aphasia Be Treated? 3 Types of Post-Stroke Aphasia There are several well-known aphasia syndromes. Each type of aphasia has its own patterns of speech and language. These are the types of aphasia that would likely occur after a stroke. Each aphasia pattern relates to the area of the brain that was damaged by a stroke. The three most common types of aphasia are: Broca's aphasiaWernicke's aphasiaGlobal aphasia Of the three, global aphasia is considered the most severe form as people experience difficulties with all aspects of language, including reading, writing, talking, and comprehension. Broca's Aphasia Broca's aphasia was named after the person who discovered the area of the brain responsible for creating speech. Broca's aphasia is also called expressive aphasia or motor aphasia. The term is used to show that the ability to speak is damaged but other language abilities stay mostly the same. Damage to Broca’s area happens when a stroke interrupts blood flow to the dominant frontal lobe of the brain. Typically, Broca's aphasia prevents a person from forming clear words or sentences but has little or no effect on their ability to understand others when they are speaking. If you have Broca's aphasia, you might feel frustrated that you cannot turn your thoughts into words. Some people with this type of post-stroke aphasia are only able to say a couple of words—what's called language telegraphic speech. Broca’s aphasia often occurs with other problems after a stroke because some of the blood vessels affected in Broca’s aphasia also deliver blood to areas of the brain that control the movement of one side of the body (usually the right side). People with Broca's aphasia after a stroke may also experience: Hemiparesis (weakness) or hemiplegia (paralysis) on the right side of the body Alexia (inability to read) and agraphia (inability to write) Living With Broca's Aphasia After a Stroke Wernicke’s Aphasia Wernicke’s aphasia, also known as receptive aphasia, is named after the person who discovered the areas of the brain that are responsible for our ability to understand language. These areas are located in the temporal lobe of the brain. People with Wernicke’s aphasia can’t understand others—or even themselves—when they speak. When people with Wernicke's aphasia after a stroke talk, their speech cannot be understood because they create sentences with words arranged in a random way. This type of language pattern is called logorrhea. A person with Wernicke's aphasia may say something like: “My door sat through the lamp in the sky.” Wernicke's aphasia is one of the most emotionally challenging effects of a stroke. When people with Wernicke's aphasia speak, they usually feel as though other people should be able to understand them. They do not realize that their language is impaired. However, people with Wernicke’s aphasia after a stroke may eventually learn that others cannot understand them when they speak—a realization that can lead to anger, fear, and depression. Which Part of the Brain is Involved in Wernicke's Aphasia? Global Aphasia Global aphasia after a stroke occurs when the brain damage is so widespread that it involves both Broca's and Wernicke’s language areas. Global aphasia affects all aspects of language, with some people unable to speak or communicate at all. This can affect different domains of language, leading to: An inability to speakHalting speechDifficulty making coherent sentencesTrouble understanding othersDifficulty understanding fast languageDifficulty comprehending things you readMisspelling of wordsMisuse of grammarAn inability to use figurative language Can Aphasia Be a Symptom of MS? Post-Stroke Aphasia Treatment The treatment for aphasia after a stroke is similar to how aphasia from other causes is treated. Each person with aphasia has different needs, and not every person with aphasia after a stroke responds to the same kind of treatment. Some people may need to have more than one type of treatment. For example, a person living with post-stroke aphasia may benefit from: Speech-language therapy Occupational therapy Counseling and mental health support Medications, like Aricept (donepezil), Namenda (memantine), and Razadyne (galantamine) Unquestionably, the most important aspect of treatment for post-stroke aphasia is speech-language therapy. This can be done with individual or group therapy, with the aim of: Restoring language skills as much as possibleFinding alternate means of communication, such as gestures or picturesUsing assistive technologies, such as speech-generating devices (SGD) and teletypewriters (TTY) Some researchers are also exploring whether experimental techniques like deep brain stimulation can help people with aphasia. What Are the Early Signs of Aphasia? Summary Aphasia is a language disorder that is caused by an injury to specific parts of the brain that control language. Aphasia after a stroke is common but a traumatic brain injury or brain infection can also cause aphasia. The three kinds of post-stroke aphasia are Broca's aphasia, Wernicke's aphasia, and global aphasia, which all affect your ability to speak and/or understand language. Treatment may include speech-language therapy, medications, counseling, and mental health support. Does Alzheimer's Cause Aphasia? 8 Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Aphasia. Brain Injury Association of America. Functions of the brain. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Aphasia. Sheppard SM, Sebastian R. Diagnosing and managing post-stroke aphasia. Expert Rev Neurother. 2021 Feb;21(2):221–234. doi:10.1080/14737175.2020.1855976 National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Aphasia Information Page. National Aphasia Association. Broca's (Expressive) Aphasia. National Aphasia Association. Wernicke's (Receptive) Aphasia. Fridriksson J, Hillis AE. Current approaches to the treatment of post-stroke aphasia. J Stroke. 2021;23(2):183-201. doi:10.5853/jos.2020.05015 Additional Reading Ginex V, Veronelli L, Vanacore N, Lacorte E, Monti A, Corbo M. Motor recovery in post-stroke patients with aphasia: the role of specific linguistic abilities. Top Stroke Rehabil. 2017;24(6):428-434. doi:10.1080/10749357.2017.1305654 By Jose Vega MD, PhD Jose Vega MD, PhD, is a board-certified neurologist and published researcher specializing in stroke. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Medical Expert Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit