Top Aphasia FAQs Answered by an SLP

Recently, Constant Therapy looked into the most commonly searched questions about aphasia on Google. While the first few questions were rather obvious, some of the latter searches may surprise you. We put CT resident speech-language pathologist, Zach Smith, to the test and asked him these top aphasia FAQs ( the most Googled). He did not disappoint. We hope you learn something in the Q&A session below!

Basic Questions

What is aphasia?

Aphasia is an acquired (after birth) language disorder occurring from damage to the language centers of the brain, most often in the left hemisphere. Aphasia can impact a person’s ability to express themselves verbally, to understand the speech of others, to read and understand written material, and to write. It is NOT a disorder of speech, cognition, or intelligence.

What is the main cause of aphasia?

The main cause of aphasia is cerebrovascular accident, or stroke. The stroke causes damage to the language centers of the brain, which are often housed in the left hemisphere, resulting in aphasia.

Are there any aphasia warning signs?

Unfortunately, there are no warning signs of aphasia itself. There are things a person can do to potentially mitigate their risk for stroke (the leading cause of aphasia), such as managing their blood pressure, though this should occur following a discussion with a physician.

Is it normal to forget words as you get older?

Yes, it is normal to forget words as we age, and there is an increase in the “tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon,” where you know what you want to say, you just cannot produce it. If you feel that you are forgetting words more often than you would expect for your age, it would be beneficial to speak with a neurologist for further information and testing.

Can stress cause aphasia?

Stress itself does not cause aphasia. Chronically stressing has been associated with increased risk for stroke, which could result in aphasia.

Can alcohol use cause aphasia?

There is a potential for alcohol use to result in aphasia, though this is in specific circumstances. Excessive alcohol use can result in a condition called Korsakoff’s syndrome, which can result in aphasia. However, rest assured that going out for drinks with family and friends, or having a beer at your Labor Day BBQ will not result in aphasia.

Diagnosis Questions

What does aphasia do to a person?

Aphasia impacts people differently, and it depends on what area(s) of the brain were impacted. For example, a person may have difficulty finding the right words (despite knowing what they actually want to say), difficulty understanding what others are saying to them, difficulty repeating after others, difficulty reading, difficulty writing, or any combination of these issues. The severity of a person’s issues can also vary from person to person, and very seldomly are two cases of aphasia exactly alike.

Can a person with aphasia live a normal life?

It is difficult to say whether a person with aphasia can live a “normal” life, as everyone has a different idea of what normal means. However, with the appropriate supports in place, yes people with aphasia can live a relatively normal life and engage in a variety of their preferred activities with the people who matter most to them.

Does aphasia turn into dementia?

Aphasia resulting from a stroke or brain injury does not progress into dementia. However, there is a variant of aphasia called primary progressive aphasia (PPA) that progresses and gets worse over time, and is considered a form of frontotemporal dementia.

Do people with aphasia know they are saying the wrong words?

Oftentimes people with aphasia are very aware that they are saying a word that they did not intend to say. However, there are varieties of aphasia in which a person has poorer awareness of their errors. Also, it is more likely that people with acute cases of aphasia may have more difficulty being aware of speech errors.

Can people with aphasia read and write? 

Some people with aphasia are able to read and write normally, however, this is very dependent on what areas of the brain were impacted by the stroke or brain injury resulting in their aphasia. As such, the answer to this question is “it’s a case-by-case basis.” 

Is aphasia hereditary?

Aphasia caused by stroke or brain injury is not hereditary. In very rare cases, primary progressive aphasia (PPA) has been linked to gene changes that can be hereditary.

What is the life expectancy of a person with aphasia?

Aphasia itself does not play a role in life expectancy. However, causes of aphasia may. For example, if you have had a stroke that results in aphasia, you are unfortunately more likely to have another stroke than someone who hasn’t. This is why it is important to speak with a physician about steps you could take to manage your risk for repeat stroke.

Post-Diagnosis Questions

Can you recover from aphasia? 

Recovery from aphasia is possible, though complete recovery (e.g., the total resolution of aphasia) is often not possible as areas of the brain are dead or impaired following stroke or brain injury.

What improves aphasia?

The symptoms of aphasia can improve through participation in speech therapy. Another important thing you can do is to continue communicating! You have to work on communication in order to improve it.

Can people with aphasia sing?

As far as singing goes, again this is a case-by-case basis, but singing does tend to be spared at least to some degree. It is often thought that speech production is housed in the left side of the brain, while singing, rhythm, etc. are housed in the right side of the brain. If a person has damage to the left side of their brain resulting in aphasia, they may be able to use the right side of their brain to produce singing. In fact, there are even treatment methods for aphasia that use singing to help speech!

How do you communicate with people with aphasia?

The best thing you can do to communicate with a person who has aphasia is to continue treating them like an adult individual and to not assume that they are less intelligent than they were prior to their stroke or brain injury. This sets the stage for good communication from the beginning. Some people may benefit from you speaking more slowly than you normally would, by repeating yourself or rephrasing what you’ve said to make it easier to understand, or by having you supplement what you are saying with gestures and/or pictures. It can be optimal to work with a speech-language pathologist (SLP) to help identify specific means of optimally communicating with your loved one who has aphasia.

What are the types of aphasia?

There are many different types of aphasia, each with their own set of specific symptoms. The subtypes of aphasia include global aphasia, mixed non-fluent aphasia, transcortical motor aphasia, Broca’s aphasia, Wernicke’s aphasia, transcortical sensory aphasia, conduction aphasia, and anomia aphasia. There are other labels for aphasia, such as expressive aphasia and receptive aphasia, though these tend to be less specific than the other diagnoses listed. I’m happy to go more in depth on what the symptoms of each condition are, though this would be a rather long response.

Stay tuned for more top aphasia FAQs coming your way next month!