Inability to express, write, or understand once familiar terms or objects?

• A. Aphasia
• B. Anomia
• C. Amnesia
• D. Agnosia

Answer: (A)

Aphasia is a language disorder resulting from brain injury that affects both expression and comprehension of language, as well as reading and writing. When someone can’t express themselves, can’t understand what is being said, or cannot write words they know, it fits aphasia because the impairment spans multiple language modalities rather than a single ability.

Anomia, while related, is specifically difficulty naming objects or retrieving words, and doesn’t by itself capture broader language problems like understanding or writing. Amnesia is memory loss, not language impairment, and agnosia is trouble recognizing objects despite intact senses, which is not about language either. Aphasia encompasses the wide range of language difficulties described, making it the best fit for this scenario.