Neuropsychological Impairment Associated with Thalamic Ischemic Lesions

Abstract

The authors compare three cases of amnesic syndrome due to thalamic ischemic lesions. The first patient suffered from a Weber brainstem syndrome including a right hemiparesis and a palsy of the left oculomotor nerve. Computed axial tomography (CT scan) of the brain revealed a hypodense zone in the dorsomedial region of the left thalamus and the left cerebellar peduncle. Neuropsychological testing showed that language disturbances were predominant. There was no dysarthria but the construction of sentences was severely disturbed by perseverations and poor grammatical construction. Naming of objects caused the appearance of paraphasia. Reading was difficult and slow but correct. No major comprehension difficulty of oral language was noted, but there was a fluctuation in attention.