失語症患者のリハビリテーション

Rehabilitation of Patients with Aphasia

はじめに

　失語とは，脳損傷によって起こる言語機能の障害をさす．右利き者の大半において左大脳半球が言語性優位半球であり，そのうちの言語野が損傷されることにより，脳が言語をうまく操れなくなって起こる^1）．失語では，多かれ少なかれ，目標の単語が出てこない呼称障害・喚語困難ならびに単語や音を誤る錯語がみられる．また，単語や文章の理解障害を伴うことが多い．

Abstract : For rehabilitation of patients with aphasia, the accurate diagnosis of aphasia and its type is very important. The types of aphasia are classified on the basis of the impairment pattern found in speech fluency, comprehension, and repetition. The aphasia types provide medical staffs with clues for how to best communicate with patients with aphasia. Physiatrists should grasp the language signs and symptoms of those patients and organize suitable rehabilitation. Standard medical practices in treatment of aphasia and recent methods to boost language recovery are also reviewed.