Definition
“Aphasia is an acquired selective impairment of language modalities and functions resulting from a focal brain lesion in the language-dominant hemisphere that affects the person’s communicative and social functioning, quality of life, and the quality of life of his or her relatives and caregivers” (Papathanasiou et al. 2013). This definition incorporates the main components of commonly accepted definitions of aphasia. Aphasia is an acquired disorder, not a developmental disorder. It is selective to the language pathways of the brain. Aphasia results when there is damage to the language-dominant hemisphere, usually the left hemisphere, and the most common cause of aphasia is stroke. Focal lesions that cause aphasia may also include brain tumor and head trauma, such as gunshot wounds. However, as Papathanasiou and colleagues (Papathanasiou et al. 2013) point out, the language difficulties sustained after a head injury may be intrinsically bound to...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Bartlett, G., Blais, R., Tamblyn, R., Clermont, R. J., & MacGibbon, B. (2008). Impact of patient communication problems on the risk of preventable adverse events in acute care settings. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 178(12), 1555–1562.
Birren, J. E., & Schroots, J. J. F. (2000). A history of geropsychology in autobiography. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Brookshire, R. H. (2003). Introduction to neurogenic communication disorders (6th ed.). St. Louis: Mosby Inc.
Chapey, R. (2008). Language intervention strategies in aphasia and related neurogenic communication disorders (5th ed.). Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Code, C. (1989). The characteristics of aphasia. London/New York: Taylor & Francis.
Davidson, B., Worrall, L., & Hickson, L. (2003). Identifying the communication activities of older people with aphasia: Evidence from naturalistic observation. Aphasiology, 17(3), 243–264.
Davidson, B., Worrall, L., & Hickson, L. (2006). Social communication in older age: Lessons from people with aphasia. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, 13(1), 1–13.
Engelter, S. T., et al. (2006). Epidemiology of aphasia attributable to first ischemic stroke: Incidence, severity, fluency, etiology, and thrombolysis. Stroke, 37(6), 1379–1384.
Go, A. S., et al. (2014). Heart disease and stroke statistics 2014 update: A report from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 129(3), e28–e292.
Green, C., & Waks, L. (2008). A second chance: Recovering language with aphasia. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 10(3), 127–131.
Hallowell, B., & Chapey, R. (2008). Delivering language intervention services to adults with neurogenic communication disorders. In R. Chapey (Ed.), Language intervention strategies in aphasia and related neurogenic communication disorders (5th ed., pp. 203–228). Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Lam, J. M., & Wodchis, W. P. (2010). The relationship of 60 disease diagnoses and 15 conditions to preference-based health-related quality of life in Ontario hospital-based long-term care residents. Medical Care, 49(4), 380–387.
LaPointe, L. L. (Ed.). (2011). Handbook of aphasia and brain-based cognitive-language disorders. New York: Thieme Medical Publishers.
Murray, L. L., & Clark, H. M. (2005). Neurogenic disorders of language: Theory driven clinical practice. New York: Thomson Delmar Learning.
Papathanasiou, L., Coppens, P., & Constantin, P. (2013). Aphasia and related neurogenic communication disorders. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Parr, S., Byng, S., Gilpin, S., & Ireland, C. (1997). Talking about aphasia: Living with loss of language after stroke. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Rothwell, P. M., et al. (2005). Population-based study of event-rate, incidence, case fatality, and mortality for all acute vascular events in all arterial territories (Oxford Vascular Study). The Lancet, 366(9499), 1773–1783.
Shehata, G. A., El Mistakawi, T., Risha, A. S., & Hassan, J. S. (2014). The effect of aphasia upon personality traits, depression and anxiety among stroke patients. Journal of Affective Disorders, 22(172C), 312–314.
Spreen, O., & Risser, A. H. (2003). Assessment of aphasia. New York: Oxford University Press.
World Health Organization. (2001). International classification of functioning, disability and health. Geneva: World Health Organization.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this entry
Cite this entry
Worrall, L., Rose, T., Brandenburg, C., Rohde, A., Berg, K., Wallace, S.J. (2016). Aphasia in Later Life. In: Pachana, N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_346-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_346-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Online ISBN: 978-981-287-080-3
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Social SciencesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences