Is comprehension of speech impaired by damage to Broca's.

[Ravit]

Hey Everyone,
Could someone confirm what is the case here.
In the Grivas book it says comprehension of speech can be impaired by damage to Brocas Area.
However, in the A+ notes study guide it says comprehension of language is unaffected, more specifically, "individuals can comprehend what others are saying and know what they wish to communicate".
Can someone validate whether damage to Brocas impairs comprehension of language?
Cheers

[Genericname2365]

The following is what I understand of Broca's aphasia, although it is sourced from the Grivas textbook. So by 'difficulties with comprehension', do you just mean difficulty comprehending speech when the usual order of words is changed? Because I have no recollection of it talking about difficulties with comprehension as a result of Broca's aphasia in the Grivas text book.

As a result of Broca's aphasia a person has difficulty with the articulation of speech, although they continue to understand speech. However,   someone with Broca's area can easily become confused when the usual order of words is changed, especially if the meaning cannot be inferred from individual word meanings alone. E.g. the boy was hugged by the girl.

Edit: I looked up another source online and it confirmed that although 'their comprehension can sometimes be murky, Broca's aphasics can generally follow conversation around them.' So their comprehension is mostly unaffected.

[mitchb93]

I think in the level of understanding required by VCAA, all you would need to know is that the articulation of speech is affected by damage to Broca's area. Many study guides will try present more knowledge and actually overcomplicate simple concepts, so just be mindful of that.

[dzzhao]

Hey Everyone,
Could someone confirm what is the case here.
In the Grivas book it says comprehension of speech can be impaired by damage to Brocas Area.
However, in the A+ notes study guide it says comprehension of language is unaffected, more specifically, "individuals can comprehend what others are saying and know what they wish to communicate".
Can someone validate whether damage to Brocas impairs comprehension of language?
Cheers

Are you sure you didn't misread? Are you sure you're not getting mixed up with normal people may have difficulty comprehending people with broca's aphasia?

Yes, we know that broca's aphasics have difficulty producing articulate speech, however it could get to the point where it lacks so many grammatical words that you actually might have difficulty understanding what they're saying.

Also realize that it can have an effect on deaf people aswell, when they try to communicate in sign language

[Ravit]

No, nothing was misread, Grivas says comprehension of speech can be impaired by damage to Brocas Area. Someone with Brocas Aphasia can easily become confused, especially if the meaning cannot be inferred rom individual word meanings alone.

However A+ says  comprehension of language is unaffected, but it doesn`t whether it is unaffected for the patients or normal people.

But, I  just checked with the oxford book and it said "mild comprehension difficulties can occur. People with Brocas aphasia can usually comprehend spoken and written language. Ocassionally comprehension is impaired and in these cases, it is usually in relation to complex sentences that depend on grammatical words"

I guess Ill go with the oxford text, and that comprehension of language can be effected, as it is written my the chief examiner.

Thanks For All your help Everyone

[1ne]

Nope Grivas never says that. A+ notes is right broca's area is involved in the articulation of fluent speech as it controls muscles around face which involve speech, comprehension of speech is not effected if you have damage in Broca's area since Wernickes Area is involved with speech comprehension.

[Ravit]

Really I'm pretty sure it does on pg 215

[aaackk]

well actually at the bottom left of page 215, it says:
"In Broca's aphasia, also called nonfluent aphasia, expressive aphasia or motor aphasia, a person has difficulty in speaking, although they continue to understand speech"

Speech comprehension is more affected in Wernicke's aphasia, which is on the the following page.

[dzzhao]

Really I'm pretty sure it does on pg 215

I've got your answer man, what it is implying is sort of similar to how we know broca's area is in the left frontal lobe, but that's for like 97% of people.

It is saying people with broca's aphasia can have difficulty comprehending speech IF meanings cannot be inferred from individual words.

What this means, as I assume you didn't get it, is that they may have difficulty understanding the sentence IF they have difficulty understanding individual word meanings alone.

This is sort of the same for alot of people though, if I just chucked some ridiculous word up like "idiosyncrasy" (a new word I discovered!) and put it into some sentence, you may understand the sentence anyway even if you don't get the word, BUT, people with broca's aphasia, they MAY NOT UNDERSTAND the whole sentence if they do not understand "idiosyncrasy"


KING

[shinny]

Have high schoolers not yet learnt the power of Wikipedia?

'While, in general, word comprehension is preserved, meaning interpretation dependent on syntax and phrase structure is substantially impaired. This can be demonstrated by using phrases with unusual structures. A typical Broca's aphasic patient will misinterpret "the dog is bitten by the man" by switching the subject and object.[5] Note this element is a problem with receptive language, not expressive language, and is one reason why the problem is referred to as agrammatic aphasia.'

So similar to what dzzhao said, but a little bit different. Still, this is an extremely minor point as far as I'm concerned and not something I've come across in my own medical studies. For a VCE level, I really expect that fundamental differences between an expressive and receptive aphasia is what's important; not trivial exceptions like these.

[dzzhao]

I couldn't agree more, doing year 12 psychology currently you sort of expect to know what they want and what is not as important as other things, that is why I said it's similar to the knowledge of how we know broca's is in the left frontal for like 97% of people, but we generally say its just in the left.


The only reason I really wanted this to be answered is because it helps me recall my previously learnt knowledge of aphasia, and help semantically encode the information even more, strengthening the connections of neurons .

I can see alot of shifty things like that in psych though, though they may not question us on it, we should still be careful

[Ravit]

Cheers guys, all cleared up now.

[Glockmeister]

Just the put in the last word. Neurology is complicated and full of exceptions.