The history of crossed aphasia: early development of concepts and hypotheses

Abstract

As an exception to so-called Broca's doctrine, assigning left-hemisphere dominance for language to dextrals and right-hemisphere dominance for language to sinistrals, Byrom Bramwell introduced, more than a century ago, the term crossed aphasia (CA) to denote the exceptional condition in which an aphasic syndrome results from a cerebral lesion ipsilateral to the dominant hand. Bramwell assumed that, in contrast to temporary manifestations, persistent CA is rare and essentially limited to the sinistral population. During the next decades, however, this view was challenged by several studies that reported persistent CA in dextrals (CAD). The initial concept of CA further eroded when studies on aphasia in sinistrals showed that CA is the rule and not the exception in this population. This paper reviews the early development and erosion of concepts in CA.