Expressive aphasia patient and finding
This patient with expressive aphasia has nonfluent speech, difficulty naming objects, and difficulty repeating, but has normal comprehension.
[Doctor] Sir, can you tell me what this is right here?
[Patient] Hand, hand.
[Doctor] Okay, sir, can you tell me what this is right here?
[Patient] L l Linger…
[Doctor] Okay, sir, can you tell me what this is right here, on the tip?
[Patient] H h fail…
[Doctor] Okay, sir, it’s okay.
[Doctor] Sir, can you tell me how you would get from your house to the hospital?
[Patient] Fly…ah… street…c c… left…street.
[Doctor] Okay, sir.
[Patient] Sss street.
[Doctor] That’s fine. Thank you, sir.
[Doctor] Sir, can you do these things? I am going to give you three things to do. I want you to wait until I’m finished, and then do them. Can you take your left hand, touch your right shoulder, point to the ceiling, and then close your eyes.
[Doctor] Okay, sir, and one more thing. Can you repeat after me, can you say ‘no ifs, ands, or buts?’
[Patient] Nnn… flubs… fibs
[Doctor] Okay, sir, very good. Thank you.
About expressive aphasia
Like all patients with aphasia, patients with expressive aphasia have difficulty naming. Patients with expressive aphasia also have difficulty with speech production and their speech is characterized as nonfluent, meaning they cannot produce several consecutive words of grammatically correct speech. Patients with expressive aphasia are, however, able to comprehend and follow commands. Patients with a type of expressive aphasia called Broca’s aphasia, also have difficulty repeating phrases.
Localization
Aphasias result from dysfunction of the dominant hemisphere, which is the left hemisphere in most people. Expressive aphasias most often occur due to lesions in the anterior aspect of the left hemisphere. For example, lesions in Broca’s area in the frontal lobe result in Broca’s aphasia.