Understanding Aphasia: Language Impairment Explained

Aphasia is an acquired impairment of language in which the ability to produce and/or comprehend spoken

or written communication becomes disrupted following brain damage. Importantly,

the deficit is linguistic, not the result of hearing loss, paralysis of speech muscles,

intellectual decline or memory disturbance unless these directly interfere with language. Individuals with

aphasia retain intact primary sensory and motor functions, yet struggle with the symbolic representation

of language. This is because aphasia arises from damage to the perisylvian region of the dominant

hemisphere, a network responsible for integrating comprehension, lexical retrieval,

grammar, and articulatory planning. As a result, patients may exhibit