Correlation between Brain Lesion Site and Fluent/Non-Fluent Aphasia

Background and purpose: Aphasia is the most common communication disorder resulting from stroke. In this condition all modalities of language, including reading, writing, auditory perception, and oral speech may be affected. Aphasia is divided into two categories: fluent (Wernicke's aphasia, Transcortical sensory aphasia, conduction aphasia, and anomic aphasia) and non-fluent (Broca's aphasia, global aphasia, transcortical motor aphasia, and mixed transcortical aphasia). As a result, the types of aphasia depend on the area of brain damage. In this study, the relationship between fluent aphasia and non-fluent aphasia with the brain damage area was investigated in stroke patients admitted to hospitals affiliated with Babol University of Medical Sciences in 2018. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, the diagnosis and discrimination of aphasia types were determined by performing the Persian version of the aphasia test and MRI/CT-scan images were taken to find the exact brain damage area. Data were analyzed in SPSS V26. Results: We studied 123 patients. There were 70 cases with aphasia (mean age: 68.16 years), including 41 men and 29 women. Frontal lobes (25.7%) and temporal lobes (25.7%) were the most common brain regions affected. Conclusion: Damage to the frontal lobe and its surrounding areas is associated with incidence of aphasia, and damage to the temporal lobe and its surrounding areas is linked to the occurrence of fluent aphasia.