Memory functions in aphasic and non-aphasic stroke patients

Abstract

Abstract We studied selected memory functions in 15 left-hemisphere stroke patients with aphasia, five non-aphasic left-hemisphere stroke patients, 16 right-hemisphere stroke patients and 10 normal controls. Memory was tested systematically for immediate recall of digits and letters, short-term (15 s) recognition of auditory and visual words and of non-verbal designs, and long-term (15 s) recognition of auditory and visual words. CT scan lesion localizations were recorded for all stroke patients. The aphasic group was deficient on immediate and short-term auditory and visual verbal memory tasks, while the right hemisphere group was inferior on both visual non-verbal patterns. Of non-aphasic left-hemisphere stroke patients, only a single patient with a left temporo-occipital lesion showed immediate and short-term verbal memory deficits. Right and left hemisphere aphasic stroke patients with isolated subcortical lesions demonstrated memory impairment, though to a lesser extent than patients with cortical le...