Cognitive-communication disorders are problems with communication secondary to a cognitive deficit rather than a primary language or speech deficit. A cognitive-communication disorder is a result from an impairment in one or more cognitive processes:
Attention
Memory
Perception
Insight and judgment
Organization
Orientation
Language
Processing speed
Problem solving
Reasoning
Executive functioning
Metacognition
These processes are controlled by many cortical and subcortical structures within the brain. If someone is in a car accident and has a traumatic brain injury the frontal lobe might be damaged or if someone has a stroke in the middle of the night in the right hemisphere, it can cause processes to stop working. A person with a cognitive-communication disorder may have difficulty paying attention to a conversation, staying on topic, remembering information, responding correctly, understanding jokes or metaphors, or following directions. Cognitive-communication disorders vary in severity. Someone with a mild deficit may simply have difficulty concentrating in a loud environment, whereas a person with a more severe impairment may be unable to communicate at all.
What causes this?
A cognitive-communication disorder can be a result from:
Stroke
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Brain infection
Brain tumor
Degenerative disease
Multiple sclerosis
Parkinson's disease
Alzheimer's disease
another form of dementia
Cognitive-communication disorders can occur alone or in combination with other conditions, such as:
Dysarthria- Slurred speech
Apraxia- Inability to move the face and tongue muscles correctly to form words