What is the Difference Between Fluent and Non Fluent Aphasia

The key difference between fluent and non fluent aphasia is that fluent aphasia occurs due to damage in the posterior part or Wernicke’s area of the brain, while non fluent aphasia occurs due to damage in the anterior part or Broca’s area of the brain.

Aphasia is a disorder in communication that occurs after a brain injury or a stroke. Aphasia affects speech as well as the way of writing. There are different types of aphasia: expressive aphasia, receptive aphasia, and global aphasia. Receptive aphasia is also known as fluent aphasia. People with this type speak easily and fluently, but words give no meaning. Expressive aphasia is also known as non-fluent aphasia, and patients have the ability to understand what others say. Global aphasia shows poor comprehension and difficulty in speech and expression. The main treatment for aphasia is speech and language therapy.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Fluent Aphasia
3. What is Non Fluent Aphasia
4. Similarities – Fluent and Non Fluent Aphasia
5. Fluent vs Non Fluent Aphasia in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Fluent vs Non Fluent Aphasia

What is Fluent Aphasia?

Fluent aphasia is a type of communication disorder that can cause a person to say phrases fluently but with no meaning. Fluent aphasia is also known as receptive aphasia or Wernicke’s aphasia. This disorder happens due to damage in Wernicke’s area of the brain. Fluent aphasia does not affect a person’s ability to produce words; however, they lose the ability to grasp the meaning of words. Symptoms of fluent aphasia include sentences that do not make sense, speaking in an abnormal tone with no meaning, difficulty in understanding others, inability to repeat words or sentences, and difficulty in reading and writing. Most patients suffering from this disorder experience problem with speech. However, they express confusion or frustration when there are difficulties in understanding others.

Damages that cause fluent aphasia in the brain are not associated with other cognitive or physical disabilities because its location is at the back of the brain while the frontal lobe and motor cortex are not damaged. Fluent aphasia requires a different therapy than other aphasia. Fluent aphasia treatment focuses more on learning to process words and phrases and less on physical speech exercises. Speech therapy is also used to activate neuroplasticity, where it allows undamaged parts of the brain to control functions that were previously controlled by damaged ones.

What is Non Fluent Aphasia?

Non fluent aphasia is a type of aphasia characterized by partial loss of ability to produce language even though comprehension remains intact. Non fluent aphasia is also known as expressive aphasia or Broca’s aphasia. A person suffering from the disorder exhibits halting and effortful speech. The message or meaning of the words and phrases is understood; however, sentences will not be grammatically correct. Non fluent aphasia is caused due to damage in the anterior regions of the brain, which is also known as the Broca’s area.

Signs and symptoms of non fluent aphasia include misarticulations or distortions in speech, such as in vowels and consonants. Most patients with non fluent aphasia only produce single words or two and three words as a group. They also show lengthy pauses between words, and multisyllabic words are often produced one at a time. Non fluent aphasia is compromised by the shortened length of utterances and the presence of self-repairs and disfluencies. Certain stress patterns and intonations are also deficient. Common causes for non-fluent aphasia are stroke, brain tumours, and traumas. There is no specific treatment for non fluent aphasia. Most patients are assessed by speech-language pathologists. Patients also go through spontaneous recovery following brain injury in some conditions.

What are the Similarities Between Fluent and Non Fluent Aphasia?

• Fluent and non fluent aphasia are communication disorders.
• Both have difficulty in speech.
• Moreover, they are caused by brain injury or stroke.
• Speech and language therapy is a treatment for both.
• In both phenomena, individuals produce words with no meaning.

What is the Difference Between Fluent and Non Fluent Aphasia?

Fluent aphasia occurs due to damage in the posterior part or Wernicke’s area of the brain, while non fluent aphasia occurs due to damage in the anterior part or Broca’s area of the brain. Thus, this is the key difference between fluent and non fluent aphasia. Fluent aphasia produces connected speech, while non fluent aphasia has a limited ability to produce speech. Moreover, fluent aphasia patients say grammatically correct but nonsensical and tangential words and phonemic and semantic paragraphs, while non fluent aphasia patients say agrammatic words and are very hesitant when producing words.

The below infographic presents the differences between fluent and non fluent aphasia in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Fluent vs Non Fluent Aphasia

Aphasia is a disorder in communication that occurs after a brain injury or a stroke. Fluent aphasia occurs due to damage in the posterior part or Wernicke’s area of the brain. Non fluent aphasia occurs due to damage in the anterior part or Broca’s area of the brain. So, this is the key difference between fluent and non fluent aphasia. Fluent aphasia causes a person to say phrases fluently but with no meaning. Non-fluent aphasia, on the other hand, is characterized by the partial loss of ability to produce language even though comprehension remains intact.

Reference:

1. “Expressive Aphasia: Symptoms, Treatment, and Recovery.” Flint Rehab, 8 Nov. 2021.
2. “Fluent Aphasia: Understanding Symptoms & Management.” Flint Rehab, 8 Nov. 2021.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Broca’s area – lateral view” By Polygon data were generated by Database Center for Life Science(DBCLS)[2]. – Polygon data are from BodyParts3D[1] (CC BY-SA 2.1 jp) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Wernicke’s area animation” By Polygon data were generated by Database Center for Life Science(DBCLS)[2]. – Polygon data are from BodyParts3D[1] (CC BY-SA 2.1 jp) via Commons Wikimedia