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Thalamic Lesions and Aphasia or Neglect

  • Behavior (H S Kirshner, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

When the thalamus is damaged, not only are there neurological symptoms such as sensory impairment, hemianopia, or motor control disorders, but there are also various neuropsychological symptoms. We discuss the basic anatomy and function of the thalamus followed by a discussion of thalamic aphasia and hemineglect.

Recent Findings

Subcortical lesions in patients with hemineglect involved the anatomical network directly linked to the superior temporal gyrus. Furthermore, the pulvinar, part of the thalamus, may be associated with hemineglect. General linguistic tasks activated the thalami, depending on the difficulty, as well as the frontal and temporal lobes. The thalamus may play a role in language and be involved in the activation of cortical language areas, and in the linguistic integration function via verbal memory and semantic mechanisms.

Summary

Thalamic lesions are associated with aphasia and hemineglect. It is possible the mechanisms and such neuropsychological may be different depending on the size and site of the thalamic lesion.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all of the patients who participated in this study.

Funding

This work was supported by the “Research on Measures for Intractable Diseases” Project 2018: matching fund subsidy from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kinjo University, 1200 Kasama-machi, Hakusan, Ishikawa, 924-8511, Japan

    Shinichiro Maeshima

  2. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan

    Aiko Osawa

Authors
  1. Shinichiro Maeshima
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  2. Aiko Osawa
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Correspondence to Shinichiro Maeshima.

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Conflict of Interest

Shinichiro Maeshima and Aiko Osawa each declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Behavior

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Maeshima, S., Osawa, A. Thalamic Lesions and Aphasia or Neglect. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 18, 39 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-018-0844-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-018-0844-4

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