Dementia & Aphasia

Advanceweb.com
by Jason Mosheim

While the underlying causes of aphasia and dementia are distinctly different, the two conditions have a number of similarities. Clinicians may use the same therapy techniques for both patient populations, but the treatment goals will vary.

The root deficit of aphasia is a problem with access to the language system. Patients also may present with some cognitive deficits.

"This is a population with brain damage," said Scott Rubin, PhD, CCC-SLP, an associate professor in the Department of Communication Disorders at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. "It affects language as well as some of the things that might go along with brain damage, like attention and memory problems."

Rather than having trouble with words, patients with dementia may primarily have difficulty understanding and defining concepts. Primarily an intellectual disorder, dementia is rooted in cognitive deficits.

"We need to think about what we're treating," Dr. Rubin told ADVANCE. Clinicians cannot concentrate only on language and neglect subtle conceptual issues.

Both patient populations may use circumlocution to search for words or concepts. However, this self-cueing technique reveals differences between the two conditions. Patients with aphasia eventually may reach their target, while those with dementia frequently end up much further away from it.

"The person with aphasia can maintain the.....read the whole article

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