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Levy DF, Silva AB, Scott TL, Liu JR, Harper S, Zhao L, Hullett PW, Kurteff G, Wilson SM, Leonard MK, Chang EF. Apraxia of speech with phonological alexia and agraphia following resection of the left middle precentral gyrus: illustrative case. J Neurosurg Case Lessons 2023; 5:CASE22504. [PMID: 37014023 PMCID: PMC10550577 DOI: 10.3171/case22504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Apraxia of speech is a disorder of speech-motor planning in which articulation is effortful and error-prone despite normal strength of the articulators. Phonological alexia and agraphia are disorders of reading and writing disproportionately affecting unfamiliar words. These disorders are almost always accompanied by aphasia. OBSERVATIONS A 36-year-old woman underwent resection of a grade IV astrocytoma based in the left middle precentral gyrus, including a cortical site associated with speech arrest during electrocortical stimulation mapping. Following surgery, she exhibited moderate apraxia of speech and difficulty with reading and spelling, both of which improved but persisted 6 months after surgery. A battery of speech and language assessments was administered, revealing preserved comprehension, naming, cognition, and orofacial praxis, with largely isolated deficits in speech-motor planning and the spelling and reading of nonwords. LESSONS This case describes a specific constellation of speech-motor and written language symptoms-apraxia of speech, phonological agraphia, and phonological alexia in the absence of aphasia-which the authors theorize may be attributable to disruption of a single process of "motor-phonological sequencing." The middle precentral gyrus may play an important role in the planning of motorically complex phonological sequences for production, independent of output modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deborah F. Levy
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Alexander B. Silva
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- University of California Berkeley - University of California San Francisco Graduate Program in Bioengineering, Berkeley, California
- Medical Scientist Training Program, University of California, San Francisco, California
| | - Terri L. Scott
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Jessie R. Liu
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- University of California Berkeley - University of California San Francisco Graduate Program in Bioengineering, Berkeley, California
| | - Sarah Harper
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Lingyun Zhao
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Patrick W. Hullett
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Garret Kurteff
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Texas Austin, Austin, Texas; and
| | - Stephen M. Wilson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Matthew K. Leonard
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Edward F. Chang
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
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