This week, The Infinite Mind looks at Aphasia, when words literally fail you. Aphasia is the terrifying loss of language; destruction of speech, reading, writing or comprehension. It occurs when there is damage to the brain from a stroke, head trauma, certain neurological diseases, that has affected the language areas of their brain. To begin, The Infinite Mind’s Nina Mitchell visits with two aphasia patients. Dr. Fred Goodwin talks with Dr. David Caplan, a Harvard neurologist, to understand where the language centers are, and what aphasia has taught scientists about the brain. Next, we chat with, and listen to, renowned mezzo-soprano Jan Curtis, who lost much of her speech from a stroke, but still maintains the capacity to sing as she used to, beautifully. Harvard historian of science Dr. Anne Harrington talks about the way aphasia was discovered in the 1800's, and its resistance from religious figures. If language was localized, in a specific part of the brain, where was the soul? We discuss with Dr. Audrey Holland, a professor of speech pathology at the University of Arizona, how speech therapists treat aphasia, and we talk with Tom Flynn, is a high level patient who just occasionally slips up. He tells us what aphasia has done to his relationship with his wife. For futuristic treatment options, we speak with neurologist Dr. Steven Small of the University of Chicago, who envisions placing patients in MRIs to see where their brains light up, so that they can have the most useful speech therapy treatment possible. Finally, commentary from John Hockenberry, who himself is rarely silent. |
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