[Isolation syndrome of the language area. Neuropsychologic and pathologic study]

A 60 year-old patient in whom spontaneous language was abolished still had a marked capacity for completing phrases and an irrepressible echolalia. From a formal point of view, linguistic ability remained at a high level. Auditory verbal comprehension was severely affected, but was not completely abolished. There was occipital blindness. Pathologic examination reveated extensive bilateral lesions in the regions supplied by the anterior and posterior cerebral arteries. Bilateral destruction of the supplementary motor areas was noted, but the perisylvian language areas were intact. These disorders constitute a syndrome of isolation of language areas which can be used to study anatomical correlations and particularly the role of the supplementary motor area in linguistic and paralinguistic processes.