| |
Abstract:
There is considerable debate as to the extent to which
reading and spelling are subserved by shared versus distinct
cognitive processes. Cases of brain-damaged individuals with
impaired access to orthography have been used to support both
views. For example, advocates of shared processes have stressed the
fact that "surface" dyslexics often show similar disorders in
spelling. On the other hand, advocates of distinct processes have
pointed out that some brain-damaged patients show surface
dysgraphia without surface dyslexia. In this presentation, we will
report the first case of a patient who presents with the opposite
dissociation, that is surface dyslexia without dysgraphia. Mister
GR suffered a closed-head injury which caused a large left
temporo-parieto occipital lesion. As a result, he presented with
reading difficulties characteristic of "surface dyslexia": Regular
words were read much better than irregular ones (88% vs. 42%
correct) and most errors were regularisations (e.g., reading "pint"
as if rhyming with "mint"). In contrast, his spelling of all
categories of words was well within the normal range. The
performance of this patient on a variety of tasks will be presented
and discussed in relation to the question of the relative autonomy
of reading and spelling.
|
