Recovery Processes from Pure Alexia: A view from its pathogenesis.

• Kawamura Mitsuru

  Department of Neurology, Showa University School of Medicine

• Mizobuchi Atsushi

  Japan Society for the promotion of Science

Bibliographic Information

Other Title

• 純粋失読の回復過程：発現機序からの考察

Abstract

Neural processes involving recovery from pure alexia were considered on the basis of findings from three cases of our own with pure alexia. Case 1 presented pure alexia following left PCA occlusion which evolved to Kana-specific alexia with very good recovery in Kanji. Case 2 presented pure alexia following right PCA occlusion which evolved to Kanji-specific alexia with very good recovery in Kana. Case 3, though having presented pure alexia shortly after the onset, seemed non-alexic in daily life after eight years. These cases were examined on reading in their chronicities. Case 1, while showing marked word-length effect on latencies in reading aloud Kana, presented no effect of stroke-numbers in reading aloud Kanji. His performance in semantic decision for Kanji was excellent. Case 2 showed mild word-length effect in Kana and remarkable stroke-number effect in reading Kanji. In Case 3, who seemed "recovered" from pure alexia, latencies were tangibly longer than non-alexic control subjects in reading both Kana and Kanji. These findings suggest there should be two distinctive processes for recovery from pure alexia in the Japanese ; 1) compensatory kinesthetic route mediated by motor imagery for letters (kinesthetic reading), which might be more effective for Kana, and 2) another compensatory route mediated by semantics, which would probably be more effective for Kanji. Recovery from pure alexia seems not qualitative but quantitative, in that even if the compensatory strategies would decrease the quantity of reading inability, tangible abnormalities would remain to be revealed under detailed scrutinies.

Journal

• Higher Brain Function Research

  Higher Brain Function Research 16 (2), 153-162, 1996

  Japanese Society of Aphasiology (Renamed as Japan Society for Higher Brain Dysfunction)

Keywords

• pure alexia
• recovery
• Kanji vs Kana
• kinesthetic reading
• semantics

Details

• CRID: 1390282679739026304
• NII Article ID: 130004893042
• NII Article ID: 10008100193
• NII Book ID: AN00329488
• DOI: 10.2496/apr.16.153
• ISSN: 18806716
• ISSN: 02859513
• ISSN: http://id.crossref.org/issn/02859513
• Web Site: https://search.jamas.or.jp/link/ui/1997029518
• Text Lang: ja
• Data Source:
  • JaLC
  • Crossref
  • CiNii Articles
• Abstract License Flag: Disallowed