[Nature of repetition disorders in conduction aphasia]

The skeptic over the existence of this important clinical entity, are now very few. Anatomo-clinical studies and the analysis of altered cognitive procedures suggest, however, that we are dealing with a heterogeneous group. Two models of conduction apahasias are presented, in which the mechanism of the altered repetition, as well as the probable localization of the lesion, differ considerably. One has a lesion in the posterior parietal region of the left hemisphere and it exemplifies an acoustic verbal memory deficit (short term memory). The other points at a functional disconnection between the decodification and verbal processes and those of expression. In this case, we are dealing with a left temporal lesion in a left-handed individual. The analysis of our material and of the clinical literature upholds the idea of a plurality of the altered mechanisms in the verbal repetition and suggest that the conduction aphasia is a syndrome.