Which aphasia is typically characterized by fluent speech with impaired comprehension and frequent paraphrasias?

Which aphasia is typically characterized by fluent speech with impaired comprehension and frequent paraphrasias?

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

Answer: (C)

Aphasia with fluent speech but poor comprehension and frequent paraphrasias points to a receptive type of aphasia due to damage in the language comprehension area of the dominant hemisphere. In this pattern, speech tends to be smooth and grammatical, but the content is often meaningless or includes paraphasias and neologisms, and understanding spoken language is markedly impaired. Repetition is also typically disrupted, and reading and writing may be affected as well. This contrasts with the nonfluent, agrammatic speech of Broca's aphasia, where comprehension is relatively preserved; with anomic aphasia, speech is fluent but word-finding difficulties are prominent while comprehension remains relatively intact; and with global aphasia, both expression and comprehension are severely impaired.

Aphasia with fluent speech but poor comprehension and frequent paraphrasias points to a receptive type of aphasia due to damage in the language comprehension area of the dominant hemisphere. In this pattern, speech tends to be smooth and grammatical, but the content is often meaningless or includes paraphasias and neologisms, and understanding spoken language is markedly impaired. Repetition is also typically disrupted, and reading and writing may be affected as well. This contrasts with the nonfluent, agrammatic speech of Broca's aphasia, where comprehension is relatively preserved; with anomic aphasia, speech is fluent but word-finding difficulties are prominent while comprehension remains relatively intact; and with global aphasia, both expression and comprehension are severely impaired.