Three types of transcortical aphasia were identified by Goldstein in 1948, including transcortical sensory aphasia, transcortical motor aphasia, and mixed transcortical aphasia. In transcortical motor aphasia, the damage occurs in the frontal lobe, anterior to Broca’s area along the motor speech cortex. The lesion is often deep in the cortical matter. In transcortical sensory aphasia, the damage occurs in the occipitotemporal area, posterior to Wernicke’s area. Some authorities believe the two types are actually deficits to the same semantic accessing system and that they simply differ in the anatomical levels that are involved. They can result from trauma, stroke, or disease. In mixed transcortical aphasia, the damage can occur in both areas or in the association cortex; it often occurs as a result of diffuse damage (i.e., carbon monoxide poisoning, dementia, multiple infarctions). The incidence of transcortical aphasia is not reported in the literature, and prevalence likely depends on the etiology of the disorder. However, in children it is considered rare.
Aphasia in which the ability to repeat words is preserved, but other language functions are impaired.
A state distinguished by the partial or complete impairment in verbal or written communication skills, while leaving unaffected the capacity to imitate and reproduce words, phrases, and sentences.