Aphasia recovery, treatment and psychosocial adjustment

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511543579.124

Aphasia recovery, treatment and psychosocial adjustment

from Medical topics

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2014

Edited by

John Weinman and

Chris Code: Affiliation:
University of Exeter
Susan Ayers: Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Andrew Baum: Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Chris McManus: Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
Stanton Newman: Affiliation:
University College and Middlesex School of Medicine
Kenneth Wallston: Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
John Weinman: Affiliation:
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's
Robert West: Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London

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Summary

‘Aphasia’ is the generic term used to describe the common range of language impairments that can follow mainly left hemisphere brain damage. Neurological damage can also cause a range of communication problems that do not directly affect such ‘straight’ linguistic aspects of language, such as right hemisphere language impairments, impairments to the planning component of speech production (apraxias of speech) and dysarthria (i.e. articulation impairment). To distinguish aphasia from other language impairments accompanying brain damage, aphasia can be described in terms of disorders of the core components of a linguistic model; features like lexical semantics, syntax, morphology and phonology. This chapter will outline what we know about the recovery from, psychosocial adjustment to and therapy for, aphasia.

Recovery

Most research into recovery from aphasia has been without reference to any theoretical model. Group studies have shown that most aphasic people make some recovery, yet most studies have used operational definitions, based on a group's improved performance on a test battery (Basso, 1992; Code, 2001) (see ‘Neuropsychological assessment’).

Such operational definitions, e.g. change in an overall score or aphasia quotient on a psychometric battery, are used widely but do not help to improve understanding of the cognitive processes underlying recovery. One hypothesis (e.g. Le Vere, 1980) is that recovery is best seen as neural sparing and distinguishes between ‘losses’ which simply cannot be recovered, and behavioural deficits which are the result of attempts to shift control to undamaged neural systems. Real recovery requires the sparing of the underlying neural tissue.

Type: Chapter
Information: Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine , pp. 556 - 559

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543579.124 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2007

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Aphasia recovery, treatment and psychosocial adjustment

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