Characteristics
Transcortical sensory aphasia is characterized as a fluent aphasia. Fluency is determined by direct qualitative observation of the patient’s speech to determine the length of spoken phrases, and is usually characterized by a normal or rapid rate; normal phrase length, rhythm, melody, and articulatory agility; and normal or paragrammatic speech. Transcortical sensory aphasia is a disorder in which there is a discrepancy between phonological processing, which remains intact, and lexical-semantic processing, which is impaired. Therefore, patients can repeat complicated phrases, however they lack comprehension and propositional speech. This disconnect occurs since Wernicke’s area is not damaged in patients with TSA, therefore repetition is spared while comprehension is affected. Patients with intact repetition can repeat both simple and complex phrases spoken by others, e.g. when asked if the patient would like to go for a walk, he or she would respond "go for walk." Although patients can respond appropriately, due to the extent of their TSA, it is most likely that they do not comprehend what others ask them. In addition to problems in comprehension, transcortical sensory aphasia is further characterized based on deficits in naming and paraphasia.
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