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Abstract:
Several questions regarding reading and auditory
comprehension remain unexplored in aphasia research. 1. What is the
relationship between reading and auditory comprehension in aphasic
patients? 2. Can relative performance in reading and auditory
comprehension be related to (a) aphasia type and (b) lesion
location? We evaluated these factors in 78 right-handed, single
left-hemisphere stroke patients. Reading and auditory comprehension
scores, as well as aphasia type, were assessed by the Western
Aphasia Battery. Scores were compared across all patients, then
clustered to reveal patients with comprehension advantage in one
modality. Brain lesion sites were revealed by MRI. To determine
common lesioned areas in patients with a modality-specific
comprehension advantage, lesion sites were standardized and
overlapped. Our results reveal a trend toward poorer reading
comprehension across aphasics, with notable exceptions. Broca's
aphasics appear to have the worst reading comprehension relative to
their auditory comprehension. Wernicke's aphasics show the opposite
pattern: in most cases, aphasics of this type have a slight reading
comprehension advantage. We conclude that reading and auditory
comprehension may be differentially affected in aphasia, and in
notable patterns across aphasia types. Lesion analysis revealed a
small region of inferior motor cortex spared in patients with
better reading comprehension, but lesioned in almost all with
auditory comprehension advantage. This result supports the
possibility that motor-articulatory processing contributes to
reading more than to auditory comprehension.
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