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The dichotomous view on IFG lesion and non-fluent aphasia

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Abstract

A lesion in inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) is traditionally considered to be crucial for the occurrence of non-fluent aphasia. However, recent studies question the axiomatic causality between a lesion in this area and the expected non-fluent aphasic syndrome. The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between IFG lesions and non-fluent aphasia. To address this question, we present radiological and neuropsychological data of 49 chronic aphasic patients. Lesions were identified based on CT and/or MRI scans. Aphasia was assessed using the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination-short form. Analysis indicated a statistically significant association between IFG lesion and non-fluent aphasic disturbances. Nevertheless, a large proportion of our patients did not confirm the traditional prediction, namely that non-fluent patients’ lesions would include the inferior frontal gyrus and the opposite would be true for fluent patients. Our results stress the importance of taking into account the size of particular estimates when conducting group analyses. We also argue in favor of examining individual data in clinical practice, and further suggest that the traditional lesion to syndrome correspondence seems to be oversimplified and should be thoroughly revisited.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund—ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program “Education and Lifelong Learning” of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)—Research Funding Program: THALIS—UOA—“Levels of impairment in Greek aphasia: Relationship with processing deficits, brain region, and therapeutic implications”, Principal Investigator: Spyridoula Varlokosta.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece

    Dimitrios Kasselimis

  2. Department of Neurology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, 74 Vas. Sofias Av., 11528, Athens, Greece

    Dimitrios Kasselimis, Lina Chatziantoniou, Ioannis Evdokimidis & Constantin Potagas

  3. Department of Radiology, Therapeutic Center of Athens “Lefkos Stavros”, Athens, Greece

    Christos Peppas

Authors
  1. Dimitrios Kasselimis
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  2. Lina Chatziantoniou
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  3. Christos Peppas
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  4. Ioannis Evdokimidis
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  5. Constantin Potagas
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Correspondence to Dimitrios Kasselimis.

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Kasselimis, D., Chatziantoniou, L., Peppas, C. et al. The dichotomous view on IFG lesion and non-fluent aphasia. Neurol Sci 36, 1687–1690 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-015-2258-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-015-2258-2

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