Describe the language deficits typical of Broca's and Wernicke's aphasia and how these might appear during MSE.

• A. Broca's aphasia: nonfluent with relatively preserved comprehension; Wernicke's: fluent with poor comprehension; Conduction: fluent with impaired repetition; Global: deficits in production and comprehension.
• B. Broca's aphasia: fluent with good articulation; Wernicke's: nonfluent with poor comprehension.
• C. Conduction aphasia: fluent with intact repetition.
• D. All aphasias present identically.

Answer: (A)

Language deficits from Broca's versus Wernicke's aphasia show distinct production and comprehension patterns that you can observe during an MSE.

In Broca's aphasia, speech is nonfluent and effortful, often telegraphic or agrammatic. Think of short, broken phrases with simplified grammar. Yet understanding tends to be relatively preserved for simple sentences, so the patient can follow basic commands even though producing full responses is hard. Repetition is typically impaired because the motor planning needed for fluent speech is disrupted. Naming can be affected, and writing may mirror the spoken language.

In Wernicke's aphasia, speech is fluent and flowing, but it often lacks meaningful content and includes paraphasias or made-up words. The person has poor comprehension and cannot reliably understand questions or follow directions, which leads to seemingly confident but nonsensical responses. Repetition is impaired as well, since understanding what is being asked is broken, and naming is often faulty.

These patterns match the described descriptions: Broca's is nonfluent with relatively preserved comprehension; Wernicke's is fluent with poor comprehension; conduction aphasia is fluent with impaired repetition; and global aphasia shows broad deficits in both production and comprehension. The other statements misstate key features (for example, Broca's is not fluent, and Wernicke's is not nonfluent) or overlook the repetition issue in conduction.