Aphasia, anosognosia, and apraxia are associated with which type of brain dysfunction?

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Multiple Choice

Aphasia, anosognosia, and apraxia are associated with which type of brain dysfunction?

These symptoms point to dysfunction in the cerebral cortex, where higher‑order language, self‑awareness, and motor planning are organized. Aphasia arises from damage to language cortex in the dominant hemisphere (left perisylvian region, including Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas), producing impaired language abilities. Anosognosia—a lack of awareness of one’s own deficits—relies on intact cortical networks that monitor and interpret performance, often involving parietal and frontal regions in the right hemisphere; damage there disrupts conscious awareness of one’s problems. Apraxia is a disorder of motor planning, not execution, and stems from disruption of premotor and parietal association cortices that organize purposeful movements. Subcortical dysfunction tends to affect different processes (like initiation, coordination, or procedural learning) rather than this specific constellation of language, awareness, and planned movements. So these signs collectively reflect cortical brain dysfunction.

These symptoms point to dysfunction in the cerebral cortex, where higher‑order language, self‑awareness, and motor planning are organized. Aphasia arises from damage to language cortex in the dominant hemisphere (left perisylvian region, including Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas), producing impaired language abilities. Anosognosia—a lack of awareness of one’s own deficits—relies on intact cortical networks that monitor and interpret performance, often involving parietal and frontal regions in the right hemisphere; damage there disrupts conscious awareness of one’s problems. Apraxia is a disorder of motor planning, not execution, and stems from disruption of premotor and parietal association cortices that organize purposeful movements. Subcortical dysfunction tends to affect different processes (like initiation, coordination, or procedural learning) rather than this specific constellation of language, awareness, and planned movements. So these signs collectively reflect cortical brain dysfunction.

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