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Aphasia

Role of Pharmacotherapy in Treatment

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Summary

Neurobiological and neuropharmacological theory and findings have encouraged trials of pharmacotherapies in the rehabilitation of patients with neurological and neuropsychological disorders. Among the latter, pharmacological enhancement of the rehabilitation of aphasia appears promising, as neurolinguistic research has provided clues to the functional-anatomical deficits underlying aphasic symptoms. At present, few clinical studies in this area have been conducted. Furthermore, most of those that have been performed were unblinded, involved only small numbers of patients, or were limited by deficits in patient description, group homogeneity, experimental design or evaluation.

However, there is evidence that the use of central stimulants and piracetam may result in an enhancement or acceleration of improvement in addition to training. Bromocriptine, a dopaminergic agent, may improve nonfluency when it is combined with speech therapy. However, none of these effects can yet be considered as established. On the basis of modern neurolinguistics, target symptoms for investigations of symptom-specific pharmacological approaches can be defined.

At present, antidepressant treatment can be recommended in aphasic patients who are clinically depressed, a significant minority of patients.

Often, the choice of drug will be determined by the adverse effect profile. On the basis of animal models, certain drugs such as haloperidol and clonidine should be avoided in patients receiving neurological or neuropsychological rehabilitation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany

    Claus-W. Wallesch

  2. Max-Planck-Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Leipzig, Germany

    Ulrich Müller

  3. Division of Neuropsychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

    Manfred Herrmann

Authors
  1. Claus-W. Wallesch
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  2. Ulrich Müller
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  3. Manfred Herrmann
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Wallesch, CW., Müller, U. & Herrmann, M. Aphasia. CNS Drugs 7, 203–213 (1997). https://doi.org/10.2165/00023210-199707030-00004

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