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Neuropsicologia Latinoamericana
On-line version ISSN 2075-9479
Abstract
LAJOIE, Camille; FERRE, Perrine and SKA, Bernadette. Distinctive patterns of communication impairments after a right-hemisphere stroke depending on its nature. Neuropsicologia Latinoamericana [online]. 2010, vol.2, n.3, pp.12-20. ISSN 2075-9479.
For more than 100 years, the communication impairment patterns in left-hemisphere stroke patients have been known to be correlated with the nature (ischemic or hemorrhagic) and localization of the lesion. Although right-hemisphere strokes are now clearly recognized as having a possible impact on communication abilities, no correlation between nature of lesion and communication patterns has been reported. The goal of the study is to investigate a possible relation between communication impairments and nature of the lesion in right brain damaged adults. Sixty right-hemisphere stroke participants were evaluated for their communication abilities with the Protocole MEC (Montréal Évaluation de la Communication) including 14 tasks assessing semantics, prosody, pragmatics and discourse. Participants were divided into hemorrhagic (n = 21) and ischemic (n = 39) groups in accordance with the nature of their stroke. The performance of the hemorrhagic group significantly differed from the ischemic group in the conversational task. Lack of facial expression and prosodic problems were more prominent in the hemorrhagic group, whose lesions were predominantly in subcortical areas. The nature of lesions results in different communication profiles in right-brain-damaged patients. The localization depending on the nature of the stroke may influence this difference.
Keywords : Right brain damage; Communication; Hemorrhagic stroke; Ischemic stroke.