Crossed aphasia with alalia in Greek—a case study; Extent of a problem

Abstract

The neuropsychological and neurolinguistic performance of an adult dextral Greek man with crossed aphasia (with alalia) after cerebrovascular accident were longitudinally examined. The patient was a 23 year-old, right-handed, monolingual Greek man without any family history of left-handedness. Initial neuropsychological testing revealed classic Broca's Aphasia with alalia, but without visuospatial disabilities, limb apraxia or memory deficits. Written language was intact. There was a dissociation between praxis and language. His mood was jovial, but within normal limits. Serial CT scan studies unequivocally localized the lesions to the right hemisphere (cortical and subcortical), involving the right temporoparietal and subcortical white matter and the thalamus. The recovery of linguistic abilities was rapid and complete after 6 months. The clinicoanatomic correlation is compatible with the view that crossed aphasia is a mirror representation of that seen in standard cases of uncrossed aphasia. The course of recovery suggests complete lateralization of language to the right hemisphere with bilateral or crossed representation of non-verbal skills.