jargon aphasia
A severe form of fluent aphasia characterized by meaningless but grammatically correct speech patterns.
Full Definition
Jargon aphasia is a type of fluent aphasia where patients produce abundant speech that maintains normal rhythm, intonation, and grammatical structure but lacks meaningful content. The speech may consist of real words used inappropriately (semantic jargon), nonsense words that follow phonological rules (phonemic jargon), or combinations of both. This condition typically results from posterior left hemisphere lesions affecting Wernicke's area and surrounding regions. Patients often have poor awareness of their communication difficulties, making treatment challenging.
Usage
Usage note: Can be written as 'jargon aphasia' or 'jargonaphasia'. Specify type of jargon (semantic vs. phonemic) when relevant.
In Context
- "The patient's jargon aphasia consisted primarily of real words arranged in meaningless combinations." — Speech-language pathology evaluation
- "Family counseling addressed expectations given the patient's jargon aphasia and poor insight into communication deficits." — Caregiver education session