Transcortical motor aprosodia: Functional and anatomical correlates

Abstract

Transcortical motor aprosodia (TMA), one of eight hypothesized disorders of affective communication, is characterized by impaired production of affective prosody and facial gestures, with intact imitation and comprehension of affect. It has been proposed that cortical TMA arises from lesions in the superior or anterior lateral surface of the right frontal lobe, but for various reasons it has not been possible to fully test this proposal. There have been few cases of TMA reported, and lesions have been too diffuse to permit accurate localization. A case is presented that meets both the functional and anatomical criteria proposed for cortical TMA, thus providing support for this system of classifying disorders of effective communication. Results suggest that the prosodic and gestural deficits in TMA may be dissociated, and that the gestural component extends to nonaffective facial movements.