Which aphasia is characterized by confluent, slow speech with few words and effortful articulation, while words remain meaningful?

Which aphasia is characterized by confluent, slow speech with few words and effortful articulation, while words remain meaningful?

• A. Broca's aphasia
• B. Anomic aphasia
• C. Wernicke's aphasia
• D. Global aphasia

Answer: (A)

This pattern reflects a nonfluent expressive aphasia. When speech is slow, effortful, and limited to a few words, yet the words carry meaning, it points to Broca’s type. In Broca’s aphasia the production of speech is telegraphic and agrammatic, and patients often understand language well enough to grasp what’s being said. Repetition is typically reduced because motor planning and articulation are impaired, even though comprehension remains relatively spared. This differs from the fluent, nonsensical speech with poor comprehension seen in Wernicke’s aphasia, where meaning is distorted and understanding is impaired. It also differs from anomia, where speech is fluent but word-finding problems dominate, and from global aphasia, where both production and comprehension are severely impaired across the board. The typical brain area involved is the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca’s area) in the dominant hemisphere.

This pattern reflects a nonfluent expressive aphasia. When speech is slow, effortful, and limited to a few words, yet the words carry meaning, it points to Broca’s type. In Broca’s aphasia the production of speech is telegraphic and agrammatic, and patients often understand language well enough to grasp what’s being said. Repetition is typically reduced because motor planning and articulation are impaired, even though comprehension remains relatively spared.

This differs from the fluent, nonsensical speech with poor comprehension seen in Wernicke’s aphasia, where meaning is distorted and understanding is impaired. It also differs from anomia, where speech is fluent but word-finding problems dominate, and from global aphasia, where both production and comprehension are severely impaired across the board. The typical brain area involved is the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca’s area) in the dominant hemisphere.