Embolophrasy is a constant repetition of a highly fixed fragment of a word, a whole word or a phrase that is inappropriate in a given speech situation. Speech embolus is present in patients with motor aphasia, stuttering, cluttering, neurological and psychiatric disorders. They can be individual sounds, interjections, words. With gross aphasia, the speech embolus is the only form of speech available to the patient. To establish the cause of embolophrasia and associated speech disorders, a speech therapy examination is performed. To slow down the speech embolus, systematic exercises are needed to correct the basic logopathology.
Embololalalia, or embolophrasia, is a symptom of some speech disorders, consisting in the presence of a repeatedly repeated speech embolus in spontaneous speech. A speech embolus is an automated frequency word or part of it that is constantly used in speech or completely replaces it. The embolus is a form of speech stereotypy and does not have a communication function.
Similarity of embolophrasia can occur in perfectly healthy people. "Stuck" on any word is possible in case of excitement during public speaking, spontaneous speech delivery. Most often, the words “here”, “means”, “as if”, “shorter”, etc. serve as a kind of embolus. Usually this phenomenon is situational in nature, however, with frequent repetition, such emboli become stronger in speech, becoming “parasite words”.
Embolophrasia in stuttering is often referred to as "speech tricks". Extra, meaningless words are often used by stutterers to "mask" convulsive hesitation. Emboli are used before "difficult" sounds, to fill speech pauses, or at the end of speech spasms before the start of fluent speech.
Usually, the stutterer does not notice the presence of emboli in speech. They can be sounds (“uh-uh”), particles (“here”), phrases (“something like that”, “this is the most”), meaningless words (“kito”), etc. Often, embolophrasy hides vocabulary insufficiency, grammatical inaccuracies, inability to accurately formulate an idea.
Embolophrasy
Accelerated, confused speech, interrupted by speech emboli, is a characteristic sign of cluttering. Usually, individual sounds act as embolisms: “mmm”, “uh”, “hmm”, but whole words can also serve. Along with embolophrasy, speech is littered with distortion of the syllabic structure of words, understatement of endings, repetitions of words or sentences, and numerous pauses in phrases. The speech rate is constantly changing, thoughts are presented inconsistently, because of which mutual understanding with others suffers.
Embolophrasia is present in patients with severe (gross) degree of Broca's aphasia, afferent motor aphasia. The name of a loved one, interjection, situational word, swear words (“eh!”, “Well, well, well,” “damn it,” etc.) can act as a speech embolus. There is an assumption that a word, its fragment or part of a phrase that a person was trying to say at the moment when he had a brain catastrophe (stroke, hemorrhage, TBI) becomes a speech embolism.
A speech embolus is pronounced involuntarily, occurs with any attempt to communicate, replaces the rest of the speech. It is well intoned, accompanied by increased gestures and facial expressions. At the same time, a person realizes that he is not saying what he wants to say at all. Embolophrasia is of an obsessive, uncontrollable nature, and the patient cannot get rid of it on his own.
Speech stereotypes are characteristic of mental disorders caused by atrophy of the frontal cortex, in particular Pick's disease. With this disease, due to a decrease or loss of understanding of someone else's statement, a special type of embolophrasia develops - the so-called "gramophone record symptom". It manifests itself in repeated (from 9 to 3 times) repetition by the patient of words, one or more phrases. Gradually, these speech turns are reduced, simplified to the level of paraphasia, lose their original meaning.
Speech emboli occur in patients with Tourette's syndrome. With this disease, they are called "vocal tics". They are an involuntary repetition of sounds and sound combinations (simple tics: “i-i”, “u-u”, “boo-boo”, “uf”) or words, sentences. Being included in the speech flow, vocal tics violate its smoothness and richness. The patient shouts out individual sounds, words and phrases, speech becomes jerky, often meaningless.
In addition to embolophrasy, other speech symptoms are also typical for Tourette's syndrome: palilalia and echolalia, coprolalia, changes in accent, volume, and tempo of speech. Such vocal phenomena are combined with motor tics - hyperkinesis, eccentric behavior, ADHD, OCD.
Embolophrasia is detected by a neurologist or speech therapist (aphasiologist or zaikologist) as part of the patient's examination of the underlying syndrome. Patients with mental disorders need to consult a psychiatrist, neuropsychologist. To clarify the causes of embolophrasia, the most important are:
Speech therapy for motor aphasia
To get rid of embolophrasia, drug and speech therapy is carried out. Neurological treatment is prescribed in accordance with the etiopathogenesis of the disorder of the central nervous system. Patients with organic brain damage may be recommended to take vasodilators, antiplatelet agents, nootropics, antihypertensive drugs, neuroleptics. An important role in the rehabilitation treatment of post-stroke patients is played by motor rehabilitation: therapeutic exercises, mechanotherapy, occupational therapy.
Patients with logoneurosis are prescribed nootropic drugs, neurometabolic stimulants, anxiolytics, sedatives. From non-drug methods, biofeedback therapy, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy are used. A good additional effect is given by physiotherapy (electrophoresis, electrosleep), massage (SHVZ, neurosedative), reflexology, therapeutic baths.
With Tourette's syndrome, play therapy, art therapy, and behavioral psychotherapy are successfully used. The appointment of pharmacotherapy (neuroleptics, SSRIs, lithium preparations) is resorted to in complex cases of the disease.
Speech therapy is aimed at inhibiting embolophrasia, gradual avoidance of speech embolism, and normalization of all impaired aspects of speech. To inhibit embololalia in patients with motor aphasia, the following rules are observed:
As part of the correction of aphasia, they work on disinhibiting expressive speech, stimulating global reading and writing. They rely on preserved analyzers: auditory and visual perception, tactile and taste sensations, smells. Of the special methods, speech therapy massage, articulatory gymnastics, procedures on the VocaStim apparatus are used.
Inhibition of embolophrasia in stuttering begins with the observance of a sparing speech regimen. A stutterer is taught techniques of muscle relaxation, autogenic training, and breathing exercises. In order to normalize motor functions, articulatory gymnastics, logorhythmic exercises, and logomassage are carried out.
They are working on the correct voicing technique, normalization of prosody. To consolidate the acquired skills, speech trainings are carried out. In working with stutterers, various computer programs, Tomatis therapy, are used. An integrated approach to the correction of stuttering (drug treatment, psychotherapy, speech therapy) allows you to get rid of speech stutters, embolophrasia, logophobia and other pathological speech stereotypes.