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NEUROLINGUISTIC ASPECT OF APHASIA RESEARCH
Giyosova Vasilya Avazovna
Senior Lecturer
Department of Russian Philology, Fergana State University
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15755723
Key words:
aphasia, neurolinguistics, neuropsychology, psycholinguistics, speech,
syntagmatic organization, paradigmatic system, agrammatism, linguistic analysis, brain
disorders, speech recovery, A.R. Luria , speech pathology, psychophysiology of speech.
Neurolinguistics as a relatively young scientific discipline is an important area at the
intersection of linguistics, neuropsychology and medicine. It offers a special approach to the
analysis of clinical manifestations of speech disorders, such as aphasia, through the prism of
linguistic categories and based on modern linguistic theories. The emergence of
neurolinguistics became possible due to advances in the development of neuropsychology and
psycholinguistics, which formed the foundation for the study of speech disorders as cognitive
and neurophysiological phenomena.
The neurolinguistic method of aphasia analysis is considered as an auxiliary but
valuable tool within the framework of complex neuropsychological and psychological
research. It allows to more accurately determine the nature and structure of speech disorders,
to identify patterns of disorder at the level of various language levels (phonetics, morphology,
syntax, semantics, pragmatics), and also to establish the relationship between the language
system and the brain organization of speech function.
Aphasia, being a deeply impaired form of speech activity, affects not only verbal and
non-verbal aspects of communication, but also influences the patient's personal sphere, his
emotional state and general cognitive functioning. As a result, aphasia often becomes a trigger
for the disintegration of other higher mental processes based on speech regulation. That is
why the study of aphasia goes beyond the scope of one discipline and requires the joint
participation of neuropsychology, clinical psychology, neurology, neurolinguistics and other
related sciences.
Despite this, in recent years there has been a simplified interpretation of aphasia
exclusively as a subject of linguistics, which is not entirely correct. This view is criticized by a
number of researchers (in particular, Critchley , 1974), who emphasize the need for a
comprehensive approach that includes neurophysiological, cognitive and linguistic aspects.
In modern neuropsychology, neurolinguistics occupies a significant place, acting as a
full-fledged scientific tool for the analysis of speech disorders. Its main goal is to deepen the
understanding of the mechanisms of speech disorders by identifying correlations between the
linguistic structure of language and the brain mechanisms of its implementation. In this
context, neurolinguistics provides unique opportunities for diagnostics, typology and therapy
of various forms of aphasia.
Luria made a significant contribution to the development of neurolinguistic analysis of
aphasia , combining the principles of neuropsychology, psychology and psycholinguistics in
his scientific work. His approach was fundamentally new - he was the first to carry out a
scientific analysis of oral speech disorders in aphasia, taking into account the
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neuropsychological mechanisms of the defect. Already in his early works, Luria used the
achievements of structural linguistics, in particular the theory of the phoneme developed by
the Prague School, which made it possible to give a scientific explanation of the nature of
sensory aphasia, first described by Wernicke in 1874.
The fruitful interaction of neuropsychology and linguistics has been especially clearly
demonstrated in the development of the concept of two classes of aphasic disorders: those
associated with disruption of the syntagmatic (linear) and paradigmatic (elective)
organization of the language system. In cases of damage to the frontal lobes of the brain (in
dynamic or efferent motor aphasia), difficulties in constructing a coherent, grammatically
organized utterance are most often observed — the syntagmatic aspect of speech suffers. At
the same time, paradigmatic skills (choice of words, replacement by analogy) can be partially
preserved. On the contrary, in case of damage to the parietal-temporal and posterior -
temporal areas (afferent motor, sensory, semantic aphasia, etc.), the paradigmatic structures
associated with the choice and combination of lexical units are the first to suffer.
Luria emphasized that both of these language organizations — syntagmatic and
paradigmatic — include multiple levels (phonological, lexical, grammatical), which can be
selectively disrupted depending on the area of brain damage. This allows for a more accurate
classification and prognosis of speech recovery in patients with aphasia.
Neurolinguistic methods of analysis are widely used in the study of the structure of
speech disorders at various language levels - from individual words to complex syntactic
constructions. They are also used to create correction programs aimed at restoring speech
function. A number of experimental studies have examined the dynamics of lexical disorders
in patients with aphasia, with an emphasis on difficulties in choosing words, disrupting
semantic connections, and restructuring the lexical system.
Particular attention in neurolinguistics is paid to the role of grammatical structures in
understanding utterances in aphasia. It has been established that in agrammatism, both the
syntactic organization and the interaction between the grammatical and psychological planes
of speech are disrupted — the levels that L.S. Vygotsky spoke about. Experimental data have
shown that even with distortion of the grammatical form of a phrase, healthy subjects can
restore its meaning due to the functioning of the psychological plane. This points to the
important compensatory role of the redundancy of grammatical structures in the Russian
language and the possibility of partial restoration of speech understanding even with
pronounced structural disorders.
It was also found that the degree and type of agrammatical disorders, the length of the
phrase and its syntactic complexity affect the success of conveying meaning. Particularly
pronounced disorders of the psychological aspect of speech are observed in efferent motor
aphasia, whereas in the case of damage to the posterior parts of the brain, it remains more
intact, compensating for defects at the grammatical level.
Thus, neurolinguistic analysis of aphasia allows not only to systematize the types of
disorders, but also to develop more accurate and effective methods of diagnostics and speech
restoration. It complements the data of neuropsychology and psycholinguistics, revealing the
complex mechanisms of interaction between language, thinking and brain structures that
provide speech.
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References:
Используемая литература:
Foydalanilgan adabiyotlar:
1.
Luria A.R. Fundamentals of Neuropsychology. - M.: Moscow State University Publishing
House, 1973.
2.
Vygotsky L.S. Thinking and speech. - M.: Labyrinth, 2000.
3.
Tsvetkova L.S. Disorders of thinking in local brain lesions. - M.: Nauka, 1972.
4.
Glotan J.M. Agrammatisms and their linguistic analysis. - M.: LKI, 1984.
5.
Jakobson R. Two aspects of language and two types of aphasic disturbances //
Fundamentals of Language. — The Hague: Mouton, 1956.
6.
Critchley M. Aphasia and its neurophysiological bases. - M.: Progress, 1974.
7.
Kostromina S.N., Kurdyumov A.N. Neuropsychology and neurolinguistics: current state. -
St. Petersburg: Rech, 2015.
8.
Baevskaya E.R. Neurolinguistics: a tutorial. - M.: Logos, 2011.
9.
Caplan D. Language: Structure, Processing and Disorders. - Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
1992.
10.
Ardila A., Rosselli M. Aphasia: A Clinical Perspective. — Springer, 2007.
