Paddy is a right-handed man in his 50s who has recently suffered a stroke in his left hemisphere, in the area of his posterior middle cerebral artery. Damage was restricted to the posterior part of his left hemisphere.
After his initial recovery, his language was assessed and found to have a variety of issues. When speaking spontaneously, his speech contained a fair number of paraphasias. In addition, although he was unable to repeat anything said to him, he was able to signify his comprehension by other means (pointing, gestures). Paddy clearly could tell something was wrong with his speech; when asked a question he would keep “talking around the answer,” in some cases finally hitting upon the correct word or phrase almost by accident.
Questions
- What condition or conditions (there may be more than one possibility) are being described in this case?
- What brain area or area(s) may be involved (be sure to consider which language functions are compromised too, and be specific as to which hemisphere)? How should they function normally? What could be causing this dysfunction?
- What do the patient’s symptoms tell you about his language abilities and how they may be impaired?
Originally published at http://www.sciencecases.org/mini_aphasia/6paddy.asp
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