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Quiz about Brocas Aphasia
Quiz about Brocas Aphasia

Broca's Aphasia Trivia Quiz


Various aphasias, or language disorders, affect about 1 in 300 people. How much do you know about Broca's Aphasia, one of the most common (and devastating) of these maladies?

A multiple-choice quiz by CellarDoor. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
CellarDoor
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
76,148
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
1291
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Broca's aphasia is caused by damage (often from a stroke, a car crash, or a brain tumor) to Broca's area of the brain. Where is this region located? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Paul Broca, a French doctor, first described this disease in 1865. His research focused mainly on what man, the first diagnosed Broca's aphasic? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Which of these symptoms is characteristic of Broca's aphasia? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. In general, Broca's aphasics also have difficulty processing grammatical function words. Which of the following sentences would most sufferers interpret incorrectly? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. In general, however, can Broca's aphasics understand spoken language?


Question 6 of 10
6. Broca's aphasics sometimes also suffer from physical paralysis or limited movement. Where? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Which of these terms is not another name for Broca's aphasia? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. No Broca's aphasic ever recovers any of his or her language ability.


Question 9 of 10
9. Are Broca's aphasics generally aware that they have a language disability?


Question 10 of 10
10. A deaf person, who uses American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate, sustains an injury to Broca's area of the brain. What symptoms is this person likely to experience? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Broca's aphasia is caused by damage (often from a stroke, a car crash, or a brain tumor) to Broca's area of the brain. Where is this region located?

Answer: left hemisphere, anterior to the Sylvian fissure

The left hemisphere of the brain seems to control most language functions, including speaking, writing and comprehension. The right hemisphere handles more spatial things, including the recognition of letters and melodies. Broca's area - which is, specifically, the third frontal convolution in the left hemisphere - is in a region of the brain responsible for most of a person's language functions.
2. Paul Broca, a French doctor, first described this disease in 1865. His research focused mainly on what man, the first diagnosed Broca's aphasic?

Answer: M. Tan

M. Tan's true identity is unknown; he was called "Tan" by the workers at the hospital where he died, because "tan" was the only thing he ever said. (He thus suffered from severe Broca's aphasia.) When he died in 1861, Broca dissected his brain and found a tumor in the left hemisphere (presumably the cause of the aphasia).

This fact, as well as data from subsequent autopsies of aphasics, led Broca to conclude that "the faculty for articulate language" was housed in the left hemisphere of the brain.

This was the first instance of a language disorder providing clues about how language is produced in the brain; this would later become a fruitful field of study in linguistics.
3. Which of these symptoms is characteristic of Broca's aphasia?

Answer: cannot recall words to communicate; broken and jumbled speech

Some Broca's aphasics can still make themselves understood, although their speech is slow and halting. Others lose the ability even to pronounce different words; instead, they repeat one word (such as "tan" or "toto") over and over again. Their intonation is generally flat - they do not raise and lower their voices as people do in normal conversation.

The aphasia affects gestures and writing as well as speech, so sufferers have great trouble communicating.
4. In general, Broca's aphasics also have difficulty processing grammatical function words. Which of the following sentences would most sufferers interpret incorrectly?

Answer: The car was hit by the tree.

"The girl kissed the boy," "The banana that the man is eating is yellow," and "The bird flies in the sky" can all be understood without analyzing the grammar of the sentences. Broca's aphasics are not stupid, nor are they born aphasic. They know that girls kiss boys, bananas are yellow (and are often eaten by men), and birds fly in the sky. Sentences like "The car was hit by the tree," however, can only be understood through the syntax of the sentence.

The car isn't hitting a tree by the roadside, as one might expect if given the words "car hit tree" and told that they made a sentence - instead, the tree is hitting the car, perhaps in the midst of a storm or an poorly executed felling operation.

The "shortcuts" that Broca's aphasics use to understand sentences without parsing them, do not work here.
5. In general, however, can Broca's aphasics understand spoken language?

Answer: Yes

Although their comprehension can sometimes be murky (as in the example in Question 4), Broca's aphasics can generally follow conversation around them. It helps if there is little or no background noise, and if the sentences use very simple syntax.
6. Broca's aphasics sometimes also suffer from physical paralysis or limited movement. Where?

Answer: The right side - the arm, leg, or right side of the face.

Broca's area is near the motor-control areas of the left hemisphere of the brain, which controls the right side of the body as well as most language functions. If neighboring regions to Broca's area are damaged as well, the aphasia can thus be accompanied by damage to right-side physical ability.
7. Which of these terms is not another name for Broca's aphasia?

Answer: conduction aphasia

"Motor aphasia" and "anterior aphasia" describe the location of Broca's area within the brain; "expressive aphasia" describes the overall effect of Broca's aphasia - that is, a loss of fluency and expressive ability. Conduction aphasia is something entirely different: here, the connection between Broca's area and Wernicke's area is severed. Sufferers generally have fairly good comprehension and expression, but cannot, for example, repeat what they have just heard.
8. No Broca's aphasic ever recovers any of his or her language ability.

Answer: False

Many aphasics do slowly recover their language ability as their brains - remarkably resilient organs - heal from their injuries. Speech therapy and the support of friends and family members help immeasurably in the healing process. Most will never regain the level of language function they enjoyed before their injury, but any improvement in their ability to communicate, improves their quality of life.
9. Are Broca's aphasics generally aware that they have a language disability?

Answer: Yes

Sadly, one of the characteristics of Broca's aphasia is that its sufferers know that they have a problem. I, personally, cannot imagine the frustration of having feelings and ideas to express, and knowing that, despite my best efforts, I could not express them.

Some other language disorders, such as Wernicke's aphasia, are more merciful: Wernicke's sufferers are oblivious to the fact that their speech is incomprehensible.
10. A deaf person, who uses American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate, sustains an injury to Broca's area of the brain. What symptoms is this person likely to experience?

Answer: Normal Broca's Aphasia symptoms, but with ASL instead of spoken language.

ASL, and other sign languages, are just as "real" and organic as English, Spanish or Chinese - they aren't just collections of hand signals. The same areas of the brain regulate vocabulary, grammar, etc. for a user of ASL as for a speaker of any other language. Thus, Broca's aphasia has the same terrible consequences for a deaf person as for a hearing one.

Thanks for taking this quiz - I hope you've learned as much as I did writing it. I am particularly indebted to Steven Pinker's excellent book "The Language Instinct."
Source: Author CellarDoor

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor crisw before going online.
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