The document presents an overview of brain anatomy and the language disorders caused by brain injuries, focusing on aphasia and dementia. It details the types of aphasia (expressive, receptive, and global) linked to damage in specific brain areas, as well as the impact of dementia on language and communication. References are included to support the insights and findings discussed in the presentation.

1. Presented to: Dr. Mona Eid
Presented by: Yomna ElHossary
Masters in Applied Linguistics Program
Alexandria University and AASTMT Egypt
Brain Injuries and Language
Disorder

2. {
Agenda
I. Brain’s Anatomy
II. Language disorder caused by brain
injuries

3. I. Brain’s Anatomy

4. Cerebrum: is a thin layer in the
outermost surface of the brain that is
responsible for language functioning
4 lobes : frontal lobe, temporal lobe,
parietal lobe, occipital lobe
Only frontal and temporal lobes are
responsible for language inside the brain

5. II. Language Disorders caused
by Brain Injuries
a. Aphasia b. Dementia

6. “McNeil and Pratt defined aphasia as a multimodal
physiological impairment related to language
inefficiency after brain tissue damage in the language
dominant hemisphere, and this impairment also
impacts other language or symbol related processes
“(2001, p.907, cited in Pompon 2013 , p.1)
a. Aphasia

7. Injuries due to:
Tumors
Strokes
affecting brain tissues
responsible for language ability
-Causes

8. Expressive (Broca’s)
Receptive ( Wernicke’s)
Global
-Types of Aphasia:-

9.  Broca’s area is responsible for language structuring
and production
 This kind of language disorder is caused by the
damage in the left frontal lobe
 Patients suffer from:-
- difficulty in responding
- using mainly nouns
- very short ill-formed sentences
e.g.: they may say ;“chair back room lamp”
to mean; “ on the chair at the back of the living room
beside a lamp”
- Expressive Aphasia
(Broca’s / non-fluent)

10.  Wernicke’s area is responsible for language
comprehension
 This kind of language disorder is caused by the
damage in the left temporal lobe
 Patients suffer from:-
- difficulty in understanding what is said
- producing very fluent and quick incomprehensible
speech
- the use of neologism (new words)
e.g.: they may say ;“the book on the trit over there”
to mean; “the shelf”
Receptive Aphasia
(Wernicke’s/Fluent)

11.  This kind of aphasia is the most severe one as it
affects the whole brain areas
 Patients suffer from:-
- difficulty in understanding what is said
- difficulty in producing language
Global Aphasia

12. According to Alzheimer's Association
(2016) ,the word dementia describes a
set of symptoms that may include
memory loss and difficulties with
thinking, problem-solving or language.
B. Dementia

13. Injuries due to :
tumors, strokes as well as damages
in the brain tissues
- Causes

14. Alzheimer (communication impairment
and memory loss)
Fronto-temporal dementia (difficulty with
language production and behavior change)
Types that cause language disorder

15.  Brain has lobes responsible for language functioning
 When these lobes are damaged because of injuries they cause
language disability like; Aphasia and Dementia
 Aphasia has 3 types :-
- Expressive (language production deficiency)
- Receptive (language comprehension deficiency)
- Global (affecting both production and comprehension)
Dementia has 2 types related to language disorder:-
- Alzheimer (affecting memory and communication ability)
- Fronto-temporal (affecting language production and
behavior)
Summary

16.  Labreche, T., Plotkin, A., Szilva, M. .(May-June 2016).
Empowering Individuals with Aphasia and Visual Impairments
through Effective Communication .Journal of Visual Impairment
& Blindness. 183-187.
 Pompon, R. (2013) Examining Inhibition During Spoken Word
Production in Aphasia (Doctoral Dissertation). University of
Washington. Retrieved from UMI. (3588841)
 Alzeimer’s Association
http://www.alz.org/dementia/types-of-dementia.asp
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/aphasia
References

17. Thank You!