Unexpected reading dissociation in a Brazilian nisei with crossed aphasia

• Published in: Behavioural neurology Vol. 7; no. 3-4; pp. 165 - 170
• Main Authors: CARAMELLI, P, PARENTE, M. A. M. P, HOSOGI, M. L, BOIS, M, LECOURS, A. R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Clinical Neuroscience 1994
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Language and communication disorders; Medical sciences; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Human; Cerebral infarction; Nervous system diseases; Stroke; Reading disorder; Crossed aphasia; Cardiovascular disease; Broca aphasia; Japanese; Language disorder; Cerebral disorder; Vascular disease; Case study; Hemisphere dominance; Ischemia; Central nervous system disease; Bilingualism; Dissociation; Neurological disorder; Cerebrovascular disease; Brazil; Reading disability; Broca's aphasia; Cerebral dominance; Japan
• ISSN: 0953-4180; 1875-8584
• DOI: 10.1155/1994/842983

There is an increased interest in reading impairments in the Japanese language, due to its particular writing system which includes two different scripts, Kanji (logograms) and Kana (phonograms). Reading dissociations between Kanji and Kana have been described, showing that each system is processed differently by the cerebral hemispheres. We describe the case of a 68 year old Brazilian "nisei" (i.e. born from Japanese parents) who had knowledge of both Japanese and Portuguese. He presented an ischemic stroke affecting the right hemisphere and subsequently developed a Broca's aphasia and an unexpected reading dissociation, with an impairment in Kana reading comprehension and a good performance in Kanji and in Portuguese. These findings suggest that the patient's right and left hemispheres have assumed opposite roles not only for oral but also for written language decodification.