Pure word deafness. Analysis of a case with bilateral lesions and a defect at the prephonemic level

Abstract

We have demonstrated that the deficit in speech perception in our patient with pure word deafness is secondary to a prephonemic temporal auditory acuity disorder. We delineated the nature of the auditory processing deficit in our patient with bilateral lesions and then demonstrated the presence of a predicted deficit in phonemic discrimination. This pattern is comparable to previous cases with bilateral lesions and distinct from other cases with unilateral lesions. Review of previous reports suggests that there are two distinct types of pure word deafness: type 1, in which the deficit is prephonemic and related to a temporal auditory acuity disorder, and type 2, a form that is independent of a temporal auditory acuity disorder, and has a deficit in linguistic discrimination that does not adhere to a prephonemic pattern (Denes and Semenza, 1975; Saffran et al., 1976). The former has been associated with bilateral temporal lobe lesions (Naeser, 1974; Chocholle et al., 1975), the latter with left unilateral lesions (Denes and Semenza, 1975; Saffran et al., 1976). The first form is an apperceptive disorder, whereas the second represents a higher disorder in phonemic discrimination and may be considered a fragment of Wernicke's aphasia.