Language disorder in a child with early left thalamic lesion.
In this paper we present the case of a child with early left thalamic vascular damage who subsequently developed a language disorder. At 3 years and 8 months, her language was poor and unintelligible and showed phonetic, phonological and morpho-syntactic disorders. She did not exhibit any signs of mental retardation. After specific speech therapy, she improved in all linguistic skills. Given the lack of reports on thalamic lesions in children, this paper describes the effect of a thalamic injury in the earliest phases of language acquisition in a child who showed consistent phonological disorders. This case seems to confirm early hemispheric specialisation and the importance of a timely therapy.
Pizzamiglio
Maria Rosa
MR
Servizio di Neuropsicologia Infantile, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy. mrpizzamiglio@libero.it
Piccardi
Laura
L
Nasti
Marianna
M
Tomaiuolo
Francesco
F
Sabatini
Umberto
U
D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012919:Social Behavior; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D013786:Thalamic Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D014705:Verbal Behavior