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Updated: Jul 14, 2026
05:32
Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Model of Stroke
Published on: August 11, 2023
Isolated inability to write cursively after transient ischemic attack (TIA)
Ioana-Mihaela Popescu1, Nutan Atre Vaidya
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA. ioana.md@gmail.com
Summary
Brain damage can selectively impair cursive writing while sparing printing. This suggests distinct neural representations for different writing styles, impacting language organization.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Apractic agraphia, a writing disorder, typically results from left superior parietal lobe lesions.
- The specific neural representations for cursive versus printed writing remain poorly understood.
Observation:
- A patient with bilateral parietal and occipital lobe damage presented with a writing impairment exclusively affecting cursive script.
- Neurologic, neuropsychiatric, and neuroimaging assessments were conducted.
Findings:
- The patient's deficit was confined to cursive writing, indicating a selective impairment.
- This selective deficit resulted from ischemic damage to bilateral parietal and occipital lobes.
Implications:
- Printing and cursive writing are processed through distinct neural pathways.
- Isolated deficits in either printing or cursive writing can manifest as the sole symptom of language organization disorders due to brain injury.
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