Symptoms and behaviour

What is Aphasia?

Aphasia is difficulty with language: finding words, understanding speech, reading or writing, caused by damage to the language areas of the brain.

In dementia it usually starts with word-finding, substituting a description for a name. In primary progressive aphasia it is the first and main symptom rather than a later one.

Speech and language therapists can help with strategies, particularly early on.

Why it matters

A person who cannot find words is not a person who has stopped thinking, and treating them as present matters.

Sources

Where to check this, and where to read more. All external and all authoritative.

Aphasia where you live

The local guide on this, for each city we cover.

Related terms

All 92 terms, A to Z