Modality- and Task-Specific Impairments in Speaking and Reading: A Case Report From Persian

Document Type : Research

Authors

1 PhD in Cognitive Science-Linguistics, Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

2 Emeritus Professor of Clinical Linguistics, Department of Speech Therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The question of whether specific patterns of impairment across different language modalities are isolated, associated, or doubly dissociated has been a major theoretical issue in aphasiology. In this paper, we describe modality- and task-specific language impairments in a Persian-speaking patient (AG) with ischemic stroke. AG’s overall language impairments were evaluated using the bedside version of Persian Western Aphasia Battery (P-WAB-1), which indicated an Aphasia Quotient (AQ) index of 86. Moreover, his performance on the Reading subtests of the Persian Diagnostic Aphasia Battery (P-DAB-3) indicated a Language Quotient (LQ) index of 60. We also evaluated his word reading, sentence reading, and sentence repetition using the subtests of the Persian version of the Bilingual Aphasia Test (BAT). Based on his performance on these assessment tools during the chronic post-onset time, AG was diagnosed with transcortical motor aphasia. Notably, he exhibited two striking characteristics, namely, (a) a modality-specific dissociation, with severely impaired reading comprehension in the face of relatively spared auditory comprehension; and (b) a set of task-specific agrammatic symptoms in verbal expression and out-loud sentence reading in the context of relatively well-preserved sentence repetition. The general characteristics of our patient’s grammatical violations also highlight certain universal and language-specific agrammatic impairments. The present clinical linguistic data argue against the existence of monolithic speech-related regions in the brain.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Assal, G., Buttet, J., & Jolivet, R. (1981). Dissociations in aphasia: A case report. Brain and Language, 13(2), 223–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/0093-934x(81)90092-4
  2. Duffy, R. J., & Ulrich, S. R. (1976). A comparison of impairments in verbal comprehension, speech, reading, and writing in adult aphasics. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 41(1), 110–119. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshd.4101.110
  3. Gerstmann, J. (1940). The syndrome of finger agnosia, disorientation for right and left, agraphia and acalculia. Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, 44(2), 398–408.
  4. Geschwind, N. (1970). The organization of language and the brain. Science, 170(3961), 940–944. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.170.3961.940
  5. Glosser, G., & Friedman, R. B. (1995). A cognitive neuropsychological framework for assessing reading disorders. In R. L. Mapou & J. Spector (Eds.), Clinical neuropsychological assessment: A cognitive approach (pp. 115–136). Plenum Press.
  6. Hier, D. B., & Mohr, J. P. (1977). Incongruous oral and written naming. Evidence for a subdivision of the syndrome of Wernicke’s aphasia. Brain and Language, 4(1), 115–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/0093-934x(77)90010-4
  7. Jürgens, U., & von Cramon, D. (1982). On the role of the anterior cingulate cortex in phonation: A case report. Brain and Language, 15(2), 234–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/0093-934x(82)90058-x
  8. Menn, L., & Obler, L. K. (1990). Agrammatic aphasia: A cross-language narrative sourcebook. John Benjamins Publishing.
  9. Nilipour, R. (1989). Task-specific agrammatism in a Farsi-English bilingual patient. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 4(2), 243–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/0911-6044(89)90016-X
  10. Nilipour, R. (2000). Agrammatic language: Two cases from Persian. Aphasiology, 14(12), 1205–1242. https://doi.org/10.1080/02687030050205723
  11. Nilipour, R., Pourshahbaz, A., & Ghoreyshi, Z. S. (2014). Reliability and validity of bedside version of Persian WAB (P-WAB-1). Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, 5(4), 253–258. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27284389/
  12. Nilipour, R., Pourshahbaz, A., & Ghoreyshi, Z. S. (2015). Persian versions of P-WAB based on severity measures of AQ, LQ, and CQ [Research report]. University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences.
  13. Nilipour, R., Shiyani, A., & Ghoreishi, Z. S. (2010). A study on language disorders of adults aphasics and their rehabilitation needs as they relate to etiology and lesion site [Research report]. University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences.
  14. Paradis, M., Hummel, K., & Libben, G. (1987). The bilingual aphasia test. Laurence Erlbaum Associates.
  15. Paradis, M., & Libben, G. (1987). The assessment of bilingual aphasia. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  16. Paradis, M., Paribakhat, T., & Nilipour, R. (1987). The bilingual aphasia test (Farsi version). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  17. Patterson, K. E. (1982). The relation between reading and phonological coding: Further neuropsychological observation. In A. W. Ellis (Ed.), Normality and pathology in cognitive functioning (pp. 77–111). Academic Press.
  18. Paus, T., Petrides, M., Evans, A. C., & Meyer, E. (1993). Role of the human anterior cingulate cortex in the control of oculomotor, manual, and speech responses: A positron emission tomography study. Journal of Neurophysiology, 70(2), 453–469. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.1993.70.2.453
  19. Poeppel, D., & Hickok, G. (2004). Towards a new functional anatomy of language. Cognition, 92(1-2), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2003.11.001
  20. Pulvermüller, F. (2002). The neuroscience of language: On brain circuits of words and serial order. Cambridge University Press.
  21. Smith, A. (1971). Objective indices of severity of chronic aphasia in stroke patients. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 36(2), 167–207. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshd.3602.167

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics