Final answer:
The Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination 3 assesses a range of language functions affected by aphasias, testing abilities in fluency, comprehension, memory, and language-dependent cognitive processing.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination 3 (BDAE) is a comprehensive tool used to assess language functions in patients with aphasia. The examination is specifically designed to evaluate various aspects of language such as fluency, comprehension, and communication abilities. The BDAE looks at a range of language skills including the ability to understand spoken language, which involves following instructions, as well as expressive language skills, which includes generating descriptions and reciting sentences. Language-related cognitive abilities such as memory are also assessed through tasks like the three-word recall test. Moreover, the BDAE examines language and speech functions in relation to the functions of the sensorium, which involve praxis and gnosis and require multimodal integration along with language-dependent processing.
When a patient shows a lack of comprehension even for simple questions such as "What is your name?", it indicates that there may be damage to one of the major language areas, potentially pointing towards a type of aphasia. Aphasias are often associated with damage to Broca's or Wernicke's areas and the white matter connections between them. The BDAE helps in determining the specific type of aphasia and the possible area of brain involvement.