Aphasia

---

The table below lists the major types of aphasia. Remember that dysarthria is different and refers to a motor speech disorder.

Type of aphasia	Notes
Wernicke's (receptive) aphasia	Due to a lesion of the superior temporal gyrus. It is typically supplied by the inferior division of the left MCA
	This area 'forms' the speech before 'sending it' to Broca's area. Lesions result in sentences that make no sense, word substitution and neologisms but speech remains fluent - 'word salad'
	Comprehension is impaired
Broca's (expressive) aphasia	Due to a lesion of the inferior frontal gyrus. It is typically supplied by the superior division of the left MCA
	Speech is non-fluent, laboured, and halting. Repetition is impaired
	Comprehension is normal
Conduction aphasia	Classically due to a stroke affecting the arcuate fasiculus - the connection between Wernicke's and Broca's area
	Speech is fluent but repetition is poor. Aware of the errors they are making
	Comprehension is normal
Global aphasia	Large lesion affecting all 3 of the above areas resulting in severe expressive and receptive aphasia
	May still be able to communicate using gestures

Diagram showing the main types of aphasia