Communication problems after brain injury
Communication problems after brain injury are very common. Although most of us take it for granted, the ability to communicate requires extremely complex skills and many different parts of the brain are involved.
There are four main categories of the effects of brain injury. Any of these can cause communication problems:
- Physical - affecting how the body works
- Cognitive - affecting how the person thinks, learns and remembers
- Emotional - affecting how the person feels
- Behavioural - affecting how a person acts
Many people will experience more than one form of communication problem after brain injury, depending on the areas of the brain affected and the severity of the injury. It is also important to recognise that such problems may occur alongside other changes in physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioural functions.
The diagram below shows the cerebral cortex. The cortex is the outer part of the brain, which is responsible for our more sophisticated thinking skills. Many of the functions listed are important for communication and injury to any of these areas can impair communication skills.
This section explains some of the ways brain injury can affect communication.
Language impairment (aphasia)
Injury to language centres of the brain leads to a condition called aphasia. Find out about receptive aphasia, reading problems, expressive aphasia and writing problems after brain injury.
Find out moreSpeech difficulties
Sometimes brain injury causes communication difficulties by impairing the physical ability to speak, rather than the ability to understand and express language.
Find out moreCognitive communication difficulties
Communication is a complex process, which involves many aspects of thinking and social skills. If brain injury impairs any of these skills then it can affect the ability to communicate successfully.
Find out moreEffects of brain injury
Find out about some of the main difficulties that arise after brain injury, together with some suggestions as to how to deal with them.
Find out moreOur booklet Coping with communication problems after brain injury (PDF) provides more in-depth information about the issues covered here, and you can contact the Headway helpline if you have any further questions.
