Aphasia: Types, Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

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In the United States, there are at least two million people with aphasia. Despite the prevalence of the condition, it’s relatively unknown to the majority of the American population. Aphasia is a disorder where you have trouble speaking or understanding others because of damage to the brain's areas that control language. For most people, that means the left side of the brain.

Aphasia usually develops all at once as a result of another condition, but it can also develop slowly over time as a result of a progressing brain issue like a tumor. It impairs not only speaking but also writing and reading and can appear together with other speech disorders. There are many types of aphasia that stem from damage in different areas of the brain. Treating the underlying issue that has caused the aphasia can resolve the symptoms unless the damage is severe.

Types of Aphasia: Their Causes and Symptoms

The eight main types of aphasia are named according to the brain areas or language features they affect and are as follows:

Broca’s aphasia
Wernicke’s aphasia
Global aphasia
Transcortical motor aphasia
Transcortical sensory aphasia
Conduction aphasia
Mixed transcortical aphasia
Anomic aphasia

Broca’s aphasia is one of the most common types, affecting the ability to form words but not affecting the ability to understand. People with Broca’s aphasia struggle to repeat words or sentences. The most common cause of this type of aphasia is a stroke, but brain infections, tumors, and brain injuries can also cause it.

Wernicke's aphasia doesn’t cause difficulty forming words, but what the person says might not make sense. They also may have trouble understanding that their speech is altered. This type of aphasia can occur when areas of the brain that affect sight are damaged. It usually occurs because of an ischemic stroke affecting the posterior temporal lobe. Other symptoms involve vision problems.

Global aphasia is the most severe form of aphasia, affecting many parts of the brain. People with this type of aphasia will struggle to speak and understand as well as to repeat back what is said to them. Strokes and severe brain injuries cause global aphasia, so blindness, one-sided paralysis, and other severe symptoms can be present.

Transcortical motor aphasia is almost identical to Broca’s aphasia but not as severe. People with this type don’t struggle to repeat sentences back. The main cause of this aphasia is a stroke or brain injury that impacts but doesn’t directly affect Broca’s area of the brain.

Transcortical sensory aphasia tends to present like a milder version of Wernicke’s aphasia, with people not having trouble repeating what they hear. It’s a common result of conditions like Alzheimer’s.

Conduction aphasia affects speaking but not understanding, causing people who have it to struggle to pronounce words, especially when trying to repeat them back. Most of the time, the main cause is a lesion in a tract of white matter that runs between Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas in the brain.

Mixed transcortical aphasia is similar to global aphasia, but people with it can still repeat sentences. The most common cause is a watershed stroke — a stroke that affects one or more of the watershed regions of the brain.

People with anomic aphasia struggle to find words, mainly words that describe actions and names of objects. Causes can include strokes, tumors, or traumatic injuries.

Aphasia Treatments

Although there is no direct treatment for aphasia, treating the underlying condition can help make the symptoms manageable.

If a stroke is the cause of a person’s aphasia, it is vital to restore blood flow to the affected areas of the brain. If aphasia occurs because of an injury, seizure, or migraine, the aphasia symptoms will usually be temporary.

For people who suffer a severe stroke, speech therapy can be a huge help in the management of aphasia. Speech therapy usually involves loved ones so they can learn how to communicate with their affected family members.

Living With Aphasia

Although aphasia can make life more complicated, affecting your ability to speak with your loved ones and making it more difficult to have a regular conversation, you can improve your quality of life even if you can’t completely get rid of the symptoms.

Perhaps the most crucial step is to visit your healthcare provider regularly and to follow all of their treatment recommendations. You also should consider turning to support groups.

Technology is a huge boost for people with aphasia. Phones and tablets make it easier to communicate without having to speak, and there are even apps specifically created for people with aphasia.

By speaking with your healthcare provider and turning to the many resources available, you can receive the support you need as you manage life with aphasia.