Pure anomia with spared action naming due to a left temporal lesion

Neuropsychologia. 1994 Sep;32(9):1101-9. doi: 10.1016/0028-3932(94)90156-2.

Abstract

We report the case of a patient who, after surgical ablation of an angioma in the depth of the left temporal lobe, developed a highly selective impairment of naming. A detailed investigation allowed to exclude a disorder of visual recognition or of semantic memory, and indicated the output lexicon as the most probable site of impairment. Grammatical class effects, with superior action naming, and a high consistency within and across output modalities further characterized the patient's performance. Together with some other recently reported cases, this patient suggests a correlation between temporal lobe lesions outside Wernicke's area and output lexicon disorders. A relatively spared action naming seems to be a characteristic feature of this pattern of impairment.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anomia / diagnosis
  • Anomia / physiopathology*
  • Anomia / psychology
  • Brain Neoplasms / physiopathology
  • Brain Neoplasms / surgery*
  • Dominance, Cerebral / physiology*
  • Female
  • Hemangioma / physiopathology
  • Hemangioma / surgery*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Mental Recall / physiology
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Postoperative Complications / diagnosis
  • Postoperative Complications / physiopathology*
  • Postoperative Complications / psychology
  • Semantics
  • Temporal Lobe / physiopathology
  • Temporal Lobe / surgery*
  • Verbal Learning / physiology