What is aphasia primarily associated with?

Aphasia is primarily associated with language impairment, which affects a person's ability to communicate effectively. This condition can result from brain damage, often due to a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or other neurological conditions that impact the areas of the brain responsible for language processing. Individuals with aphasia may struggle with speaking, understanding spoken language, reading, and writing, but their cognitive abilities outside of language may remain intact.

In contrast, hearing impairment relates specifically to difficulties with auditory processing and does not inherently affect language comprehension or expression. Visual impairment pertains to difficulties in processing visual information, which is distinct from language function. Cognitive impairment involves a broader range of deficits in thinking, memory, and problem-solving but is not synonymous with or focused solely on language issues. Thus, language impairment is the defining characteristic of aphasia.