The alogia expresses a clear lack of spontaneity in speech and the disappearance of loquacity.
This article explains everything there is to know about this mental problem. Alogia has different causes and is closely related to certain diseases. It presents clear symptoms and it is necessary to address the problem with an appropriate treatment for it.
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What is alogia?
The alogia is initially appreciated as a problem in the normal use of language . It can quickly be seen that people who suffer from this problem express an impoverished language content. This occurs both qualitatively and quantitatively, the latter being much more evident.
The person suffering from alogia, therefore, transmits little information and in a vague and repetitive way. This is directly related to thought disturbances, since it is not a problem that affects the production of speech in a motor sense, but rather the person’s ability to think and reason normally is affected.
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Causes
The origin of this speech problem is in the brain . A person with alogia has trouble expressing himself in normal language, and this is due to alterations in his thinking.
Likewise, it must be taken into account that thinking is affected for reasons related to the biochemistry of the brain. One of the main problems lies in a lack of dopamine synthesis in the mesocortical pathway, although it is not the only one.
The mesocortical pathway is a pathway of neurons that connects the ventral tegmentum of the midbrain with the frontal lobe. The first has functions related to cognition and motivation, while the second is responsible for coordinating all the executive functions that direct human behavior.
On the other hand, it is also caused by certain alterations that connect the frontal lobe with the basal ganglia and by lesions in the temporal lobe. The latter houses areas closely related to language, such as Wernicke’s area or Broca’s area.
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Symptoms
Alogia encompasses a series of neuropsychological symptoms related to thought and speech . It consists of the loss of predominantly intellectual functions, the most representative being aphasia, ideational apraxia, agnosia, and sometimes amnesia.
It is a symptomatology that is classified as negative, and is related to a significant absence of spontaneity in speech. The decrease in the flow of the conversation is very noticeable, while so is the complexity of the content.
The affected person also loses interest and the ability to concentrate on everything around him. It is a problem that even affects his ability to pay attention, so the patient isolates himself more and more within her condition.
Emotional flattening, social isolation, and lack of initiative and vitality therefore add to language difficulties. This also leads inevitably in many cases to depression.
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Related diseases
Alogia is mainly related to primary dementias and schizophrenia . These are two very different types of diseases but they have in common the loss of contact with reality through the alteration of different cognitive abilities.
In primary dementias, it is related to the final picture of the evolution of diseases such as Alzheimer’s or frontotemporal dementia or Pick’s disease. The person gradually loses certain cognitive abilities until they express symptoms such as the one expressed in the previous point.
In the case of schizophrenia, it represents part of the negative symptomatology, as occurs with abulia, anhedonia and affective and social flattening. In this way, neuropsychological alterations leave a mark on the person. She seems to be losing her personality and vitality through these negative symptoms when she is not having a psychotic break.
Treatment
Treatment to combat alogia is not simple . To begin with, there are different causes that can make differences between individuals. The clinical symptoms of this neuropsychological problem are similar in different cases, but the brain lesions or alterations are not always the same.
That said, one of the most widespread treatments is the use of antipsychotics. These drugs manage to raise dopamine levels, as well as serotonin. This can partially improve the symptoms, although it is not a complete solution.
On the other hand, it has been observed that different amphetamines have a positive effect in counteracting alogia, but can give rise to other problems in the case of schizophrenics. Amphetamines can promote the appearance of psychotic breaks, which can be more problematic for the patient.
Other non-pharmacological treatments focus on offering behavioral therapy. Psychotherapy and speech therapy are gaining more and more recognition when it comes to treating alogia, despite the fact that the improvement process is slow.
The complexity of this brain condition is proving to be a challenge for the scientific community. Neuroplasticity and neurogenesis are currently considered as the great future solutions to deal with injuries produced in the brain.
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Bibliographic references
- Alpert, M., Clark, A. y Pouget, E.R. (1994). The syntactic role of pauses in the speech patients with schizophrenia and alogia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 750-757.
- Barch, D.M. y Berenbaum, H. (1996). Language production and thought disorder in schizophrenia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105, 81-88.
- Miller, D., Arndt, S. y Andreasen, N. (2004). Alogia, attentional impairment, and inappropriate affect: Their status in the dimensions of schizophrenia. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 34, 221-226.
To the classic question “what do you do?” I always answer “basically I am a psychologist”. In fact, my academic training has revolved around the psychology of development, education and community, a field of study influenced my volunteer activities, as well as my first work experiences in personal services.
