Aphemia: an isolated disorder of articulation.
Aphemia is a disorder with prominent speech abnormality. Since its description by Broca, there has been debate regarding the neuropsychological disorganization underlying aphemia: is aphemia an articulatory disorder or a language disorder? We describe a patient with markedly impaired articulation, but preserved receptive and written language function and buccal-facial coordination. The location of his stroke was in the left precentral gyrus, undercutting a small area of motor and premotor cortex. This case suggests that aphemia can occur as an isolated articulation deficit without language involvement or more widespread bulbar apraxia, and may be a severe form of apraxia of speech.
Fox
R J
RJ
Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA. foxr@ccf.org
Kasner
S E
SE
Chatterjee
A
A
Chalela
J A
JA
D001039:Aphasia, Broca / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001184:Articulation Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed