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[Amnesia, confabulation and nonaphasic misnaming after left thalamic infarct]
Ryuichiro Hayashi1, Masashi Ohashi, Ryo Watanabe
1Department of Neurology, Yokohama City Hospital, 56 Okasawa-cho, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8555, Japan.
No to Shinkei = Brain and Nerve
|July 30, 2003
Summary
A left thalamic infarction caused amnesia and confabulation in a patient. This thalamic dysfunction, linked to the left frontal lobe, disrupted language self-monitoring.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neurology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Thalamic lesions can cause complex cognitive deficits.
- Understanding the role of specific thalamic nuclei in language and memory is crucial.
Observation:
- A 72-year-old woman experienced amnesia, confabulation, and bizarre verbal responses post-left thalamic infarction.
- Clinical presentation included disorientation, euphoria, and paraphasia with nonaphasic misnaming.
Findings:
- MRI revealed lesions in the left internal capsule, thalamic nuclei (anteroventral, lateroventral, intralaminar), and mamillothalamic tract.
- 99mTc-HMPAO-SPECT showed reduced left frontal lobe uptake, suggesting thalamocortical disconnection.
Implications:
- Thalamic and left frontal lobe dysfunction can impair language self-monitoring.
- This impairment may lead to confabulation and nonaphasic misnaming, offering insights into language processing and memory.