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Published on: January 3, 2017
Aphemia: an isolated disorder of articulation
R J Fox1, S E Kasner, A Chatterjee
1Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA. foxr@ccf.org
Abstract:
Aphemia is a disorder with prominent speech abnormality. Since its description by Broca, there has been debate regarding the neuropsychological disorganization underlying aphemia: is aphemia an articulatory disorder or a language disorder? We describe a patient with markedly impaired articulation, but preserved receptive and written language function and buccal-facial coordination. The location of his stroke was in the left precentral gyrus, undercutting a small area of motor and premotor cortex. This case suggests that aphemia can occur as an isolated articulation deficit without language involvement or more widespread bulbar apraxia, and may be a severe form of apraxia of speech.
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