Gerstmann syndrome and angular gyrus lesion

Abstract

The author investigated first the clinical significance of so-called “Gerstmann syndrome” and secondly the anatomoclinical correlation between Gerstmann syndrome and left angular gyrus lesion. Conclusions obtained are as follows : 1) Gerstman syndrome may not necessarily homogeneous. This point has already been indicated by many authors. 2) Left angular gyrus lesionmight not be necessary and sufficient condition of manifestation of the Gerstmann syndrome, because of existence of cases with angular lesion without Gerstmann syndrome and of cases without angulra lesion with Gerstmann syndrome. However, it is not doubtful that almost all cases of Gerstmann syndrome have left parietooccipital lesions including angular gyrus. 3) Why bilateral asomatognosia (Gerstmann syndrome and autotopagnosia) do appear with dominant parieto-occipital lesions is the problem which may be worth while to reexamine from neuropsychological point of view. 4) A few cases reported of Gerstmann syndrome with frontal lobe lesions may suggest the presence of certain roles played by frontal lobe in somatognosic and spatial-gnostic processes, in contrast to that played by parietal lobe. We must investigate in the future this difficult problem which remains unsolved.