Sunday, October 18, 2009

Summary and Three Objectives

SUMMARY: 
Expressive aphasia, also known as Broca's aphasia, is caused by damage to or developmental issues in anterior regions of the brain, including the left posterior inferior frontal gyrus known as Broca's area.  Expressive aphasia is characterized by a patient's inability to properly move the muscles of the tongue and mouth to produce speech. Expressive aphasia contrasts with receptive aphasia, which is characterized by a patient's inability to comprehend language.

OBJECTIVES:
1 - To describe in detail what expressive aphasia is.
2- To explain the difference between expressive aphasia and receptive aphasia.
3 - To understand that there isn't a cure for aphasia, however there are effective strategies and techniques for home treatment, information available for unaware caregivers, and of course, speech therapy from a certified Speech-Language Pathologist.

Professional Journal Articles

Speech Therapy in Aphasia
Camargo, J., Jairza, L., Luiza, M., Mauro, S., Simoes, P. (1977). Speech Therapy in Aphasia. Linguistics and Language Behavior Aspects, 35 (4), 340-345.

The speech therapy received by 15 aphasic patients was studied.  In 11 cases, aphasia was due to a cerebrovascular disease, and in 4 cases a traumatic brain injury.  Expressive aphasia was seen in 5 patients, while in the others, both receptive and expressive aphasia was seen.  While six patients started their therapy program within three months after being diagnosed with aphasia, the rest started later.  Eleven patients showed satisfactory recovery, regardless of the severity, age of the patient, or the period of time from initial diagnosis to the beginning of therapy.  Although a firm prognosis cannot be established at the beginning of therapy, speech therapy is effective in aphasic patients.  After thoroughly retesting the patients and a continuous follow-up, useful information will be taken for a prognosis.

In this article, a study was conducted to establish the effect of speech therapy in patients with expressive aphasia.  In this article, I learned that regardless of the severity, age of the patient, or the period of time from initial diagnosis to the beginning of therapy, most showed improvement and speech therapy is effective in aphasic patients.  



Dissociation between singing and speaking in expressive aphasia: The role of song familiarity
Geipel, K., Mentzel, H., Miltner, W., Schulz, A., Straube, T. (2008). Dissociation between singing and speaking in expressive aphasia: The role of song familiarity. CSA Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts, 46 (5), 1505-1512.

Despite having severe speech impairments, according to several reports, aphasic patients have the ability to sing familiar songs.  It is also said that singing might improve speech production.  However, recent studies on aphasic patients found no evidence that singing can improve word production.  This study investigated a patient affected with expressive aphasia and their ability to sing during repetition of word phrases.  This study showed an increase in the number of correctly pronounced words during singing as compared to speaking familiar lyrics.  These findings show that singing might help the production of word phrases in a least some cases of expressive aphasia.  However, the association of text and melody in long-term memory seems to be responsible for this effect.

In this article, a study was conducted to see if singing can improve word production in patients with expressive aphasia.  From this article, I learned that singing, in most cases, will increase the number of correctly pronounced words as compared to speaking familiar lyrics in patients with expressive aphasia.

Paul Broca:
Responsible for naming the Broca's convolution-the motor speech area.


Sunday, October 4, 2009

Curious about expressive aphasia?

Help yourself to three informative websites about expressive aphasia!

























American Speech-Language-Hearing Association: Aphasia

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has published an informative site about aphasia, more specifically, expressive aphasia.  This site gives a clear description of aphasia along with the signs or symptoms, such as expressive or receptive aphasia.  A list of characteristics for expressive and receptive aphasia are also provided. This site also explains the evaluation process that is done by the Speech-Language Pathologist to determine the type and severity of aphasia.  The evaluation process which assesses speech, understanding, expressing, social communication, reading and writing are further explained. Treatments that are available for those with aphasia are also provided.    

In my opinion, this is an excellent site for those looking for information about expressive aphasia.  In order to fully understand expressive aphasia, it's important to have a complete understanding of aphasia and the difference between expressive and receptive aphasia, and this site guarantees that.  The information is well organized and easy to understand, which enables readers to enjoy!  


Expressive Aphasia: Effective Home Treatment


Although there is no cure, this site provides information and exercises on effective home treatment for expressive aphasia.  This site first gives a brief overview on expressive aphasia, other medical names that are commonly used for expressive aphasia and the many causes. This site gives specific examples of speech patterns of expressive aphasics and exercises that will help improve spoken language.  Although not all patients will demonstrate every symptom associated with the disorder, this site provides a list of possibilities.  

This site, in my opinion, will provide the caregivers of those with expressive aphasia many exercises, strategies and techniques for home treatment.  This site will enable those with expressive aphasia to become comfortable and familiar with the techniques used during speech therapy.  This site is well organized with accurate information.  


        
Adler Aphasia Center: Caregiver Aphasia I.Q. Quiz

This is such an awesome site! This site provides a quiz that will be helpful when assessing the many skills as a caregiver of those with expressive aphasia.  Since those with expressive aphasia are unable to advocate for themselves, caregivers are responsible for their lifestyle and medical treatments.  The quiz provides ways to enhance a caregivers' skills, improve the quality of life for those with expressive aphasia and provide the education, resources and support that is needed in order to provide the best care.  At the end of the quiz, a list of correct answers are provided with detailed analysis of each.

This is a great site! If I was a caregiver for someone with expressive aphasia, I would greatly appreciate such information.  This is turn is very beneficial for caregivers who may need a better understanding on the skills needed to improve the quality of life of those with expressive aphasia. 

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