This is a comprehensive, interpretive account of aphasia written to appeal to a broad audience. It combines historical, anatomic, and psychological approaches toward understanding the nature of aphasia. Included is a discussion of the brain-language relationship, the symptoms and syndromes common to aphasia, and alternative approaches to classification. Integrates phenomenology of aphasic symptoms with the anatomy of language and current theories of brain-language relations Traces history of aphasic theory, from pre-Broca to contemporary theory Provides detailed review of manifestations of aphasia in every language modality Contains critical analysis of neurolinguistic inter-relations

This is a comprehensive, interpretive account of aphasia written to appeal to a broad audience. It combines historical, anatomic, and psychological approaches toward understanding the nature of aphasia. Included is a discussion of the brain-language relationship, the symptoms and syndromes common to aphasia, and alternative approaches to classification. Key Features * Integrates phenomenology of aphasic symptoms with the anatomy of language and current theories of brain-language relations * Traces history of aphasic theory, from pre-Broca to contemporary theory * Provides detailed review of manifestations of aphasia in every language modality * Contains critical analysis of neurolinguistic inter-relations

This groundbreaking work brings together leading scientist-practitioners to review what is known about aphasia and to relate current knowledge to treatment. Integrating traditional linguistic formulations with new insights derived from cognitive neuroscience, this volume explores the neuropsychological bases of both normal and pathologic language. It reflects an understanding of brain structure and function based on new developments in connectionist modeling and functional neuroimaging.

From the Introduction: Sudden and unexpected loss of communication is a terrifying, dehumanizing experience that tears away at the essence of life itself. For decades, speech and language pathologists have sought to better understand it. The term aphasia is used to generally describe a condition whereby speech and language skills are partially or totally lost. Aphasia is the result of damage to or disturbance of those areas in the brain responsible for speech and language functions. A tremendous variety of specific impairments can occur to plague the individual with aphasia. Impairments of comprehension, reading disturbances, writing difficulties, and confusion with numerical processes can accompany oral language problems such as word loss, loss of sentence structure, and confusion in utilizing word forms. . . To understand aphasia at this level alone is to miss the full nature of this terribly debilitating condition. For the effect that aphasia has on the person who must bear its consequences is a profound area of interest that is not always understood and. . . seldom considered. Aphasia, My World Alone has been written to help open this often closed door. . . Helen Wulf has put down on paper a depth of feeling, thought, and analysis concerning the aphasic experience that personalizes the disorder in a gripping, readable manner. She delves so deeply into her aphasia that the reader is actually drawn up into the agony and frustration that is the daily burden of the aphasic individual. Speech pathologists who actively work with aphasic patients will immediately recognize the value of Helen Wulf's analysis of her aphasia. Her reactions to various forms of treatment will also be beneficial, especially to those who are allowing certain aphasics to determine which speech and language deficits are most debilitating and, consequently, which area should be emphasized in the initial stages of treatment. Family and friends of the aphasic will be warmly introduced to those inner thoughts so long hidden from their ears. . . This book. . . should be extremely useful in family counseling. . . As many speech pathologists have indicated, the need for "family treatment" is immediate, real, and often of critical importance. . . As the field of aphasia rehabilitation continues its growth ... our ability to help the aphasic and his family will expand. It is felt that in its small way, this book will help make aphasia less of a world alone. A new chapter has been added to this revised edition in which Helen Wulf assesses her feelings and the progress she has made six to eight years post-stroke.

This book provides a comprehensive yet accessible introduction to aphasia, or loss of language, a complex condition that affects approximately a third of stroke survivors. It describes the varied manifestations of aphasia on speech, comprehension, reading and writing. Chapters explore how aphasia presents across different languages and in bilingualism, as well as the impacts of aphasia on a person’s life and the effects for family members. The text also considers recovery in aphasia and how that recovery can be enhanced by a range of interventions. All topics are informed by extensive research and personal accounts of individuals living with aphasia. Anyone interested in language needs to know about aphasia and will find here the perfect beginner’s guide. The book provides an invaluable introduction to aphasia for students of speech and language therapy, health professionals and others with an interest in stroke care. It also offers easy-to-read answers to many of the questions posed by family members of stroke survivors.

This book presents a journey into how language is put together for speaking and understanding and how it can come apart when there is injury to the brain. The goal is to provide a window into language and the brain through the lens of aphasia, a speech and language disorder resulting from brain injury in adults. This book answers the question of how the brain analyzes the pieces of language, its sounds, words, meaning, and ultimately puts them together into a unitary whole. While its major focus is on clinical, experimental, and theoretical approaches to language deficits in aphasia, it integrates this work with recent technological advances in neuroimaging to provide a state-of-the-art portrayal of language and brain function. It also shows how current computational models that share properties with those of neurons allow for a common framework to explain how the brain processes language and its parts and how it breaks down according to these principles. Consideration will also be given to whether language can recover after brain injury or when areas of the brain recruited for speaking, understanding, or reading are deprived of input, as seen with people who are deaf or blind. No prior knowledge of linguistics, psychology, computer science, or neuroscience is assumed. The informal style of this book makes it accessible to anyone with an interest in the complexity and beauty of language and who wants to understand how it is put together, how it comes apart, and how language maps on to the brain.