[Aphasia in a polyglot: description and neuropsychological course]

We present a case of aphasia due to an ischaemic lesion in the left temporo-occipital region of the brain of a 60 year old right-handed polyglot. Mother tongues: French, Italian, Arabic. Educated at school in English. Languages learnt as an adult: German, Portuguese, Spanish. Language habitually spoken prior to illness: Spanish. His language disorder was of non-fluent type and progressed to an anomic disorder. The non-parallel recovery of languages led to an initial and predominant recovery of English (language at school) followed by French (his first language). This type of non-parallel recovery may be compatible with the inhibition-disinhibition mechanism hypothesis. This would mean that the languages of least recovery are inhibited by raising the threshold of some circuits while still permitting comprehension.