Differential recovery of languages in a bilingual patient: a case study using selective amytal test.
We performed a selective Wada test on a bilingual patient. While a left middle cerebral artery (MCA) injection produced global aphasia for both (Spanish and English) languages, the patient could only speak Spanish (his mother tongue) 1 min after he started to speak English. No language disturbances were observed after a right MCA amytal injection. These findings suggest that all of a multilingual's languages are stored within the verbal-dominant perisylvian region, and while the second language may be organized within the central Sylvian core, the first language may be better represented in more distal perisylvian areas.
Berthier
M L
ML
Institute of Neurological Research, Dr. Raul Carrea, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Starkstein
S E
SE
Lylyk
P
P
Leiguarda
R
R
D000328:Adult; D000654:Amobarbital; D015901:Angiography, Digital Subtraction; D001037:Aphasia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002533:Cerebral Angiography; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic; D006801:Humans; D002538:Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000628:therapy*; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology
D000654:Amobarbital