A case of 'sign blindness' following left occipital damage in a deaf signer

We report on a right-handed, deaf, life long signer who suffered a left posterior cerebral artery (PCA) stroke. The patient presented with right homonymous hemianopia, alexia and a severe sign comprehension deficit. Her production of sign language was, however, virtually normal. We suggest that her syndrome can be characterized as a case of 'sign blindness', a disconnection of the intact right hemisphere visual areas from intact left hemisphere language areas. This case provides strong evidence that the neural systems supporting sign language processing are predominantly in the left hemisphere, but also suggests that there are some differences in the neural organization of signed vs spoken language within the left hemisphere.