APHASIA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does aphasia mean? 

• APHASIA (noun)
  The noun APHASIA has 1 sense:

1. inability to use or understand language (spoken or written) because of a brain lesion

  Familiarity information: APHASIA used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• APHASIA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Inability to use or understand language (spoken or written) because of a brain lesion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("aphasia" is a kind of...):

brain disease; brain disorder; encephalopathy (any disorder or disease of the brain)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "aphasia"):

acoustic aphasia; auditory aphasia; word deafness (an impairment in understanding spoken language that is not attributable to hearing loss)

associative aphasia; conduction aphasia (aphasia in which the lesion is assumed to be in the association tracts connecting the various language centers in the brain; patient's have difficulty repeating a sentence just heard)

global aphasia; total aphasia (loss of all ability to communicate)

ataxic aphasia; Broca's aphasia; expressive aphasia; motor aphasia; nonfluent aphasia (aphasia in which expression by speech or writing is severely impaired)

amnesic aphasia; amnestic aphasia; anomia; anomic aphasia; nominal aphasia (inability to name objects or to recognize written or spoken names of objects)

transcortical aphasia (a general term for aphasia that results from lesions outside of Broca's area or Wernicke's area of the cerebral cortex)

alexia; visual aphasia; word blindness (inability to perceive written words)

fluent aphasia; impressive aphasia; receptive aphasia; sensory aphasia; Wernicke's aphasia (aphasia characterized by fluent but meaningless speech and severe impairment of the ability understand spoken or written words)

Derivation:

aphasic (unable to speak because of a brain lesion)

aphasic (related to or affected by aphasia)

 Context examples 

Some people recover from aphasia without treatment.

(Aphasia, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

An aphasia characterized by impairment of expressive language (speech, writing, signs) and relative preservation of receptive language abilities (i.e., comprehension).

(Broca's Aphasia, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Signs and symptoms include sleep disturbances, personality changes, aphasia, ataxia, muscle atrophy and weakness, visual loss, and myoclonus.

(Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, NCI Thesaurus)

In aphasia, portions of the brain that are responsible for expressing and understanding language are damaged.

(Brain Mapping of Language Impairments, NIH)

A rare childhood syndrome characterized by the progressive or sudden inability to understand and use spoken language (aphasia) and paroxysmal electrical brain waves.

(Landau-Kleffner Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

Mutation of the gene is associated with hydrocephalus due to stenosis of the aqueduct of Sylvius (HSAS), mental retardation, aphasia, shuffling gait, and adducted thumbs syndrome (MASA or CRASH syndrome), spastic paraplegia 1, X-linked and agenesis of the corpus callosum, X-linked, partial and may contribute to intestinal aganglionosis in Hirschsprung disease.

(L1CAM wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Aphasia is a disorder caused by damage to the parts of the brain that control language.

(Aphasia, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Aphasia usually occurs suddenly, often as the result of a stroke or head injury.

(Brain Mapping of Language Impairments, NIH)

There are four main types: • Expressive aphasia - you know what you want to say, but you have trouble saying or writing what you mean • Receptive aphasia - you hear the voice or see the print, but you can't make sense of the words • Anomic aphasia - you have trouble using the correct word for objects, places, or events • Global aphasia - you can't speak, understand speech, read, or write

(Aphasia, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

The researchers studied 99 volunteers who had aphasia resulting from a stroke to the left side (hemisphere) of the brain.

(Brain Mapping of Language Impairments, NIH)