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Psychology Definitions >> Aphasia
Aphasia
Aphasia is a loss of some language ability, often caused by brain damage.
There are three types of aphasia:
- Broca's Aphasia
- Wernicke's Aphasia (Word Salad)
- Speech Isolation Syndrome
Regardless of its specific form, aphasia is almost exclusively associated with damage to the left rather than the right cerebral hemisphere.
For example, even though aphasia is frequently found after major surgery on the left temporal lobe (~73%), it rarely occurs following major surgery on the right temporal lobe (less than 1%)
This predominance for language skills only brought left hemisphere reputation of the 'dominant hemisphere'.
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