The Japanese journal of neuropsychology

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ArticleTitle	Localization of "anarthria" reconsidered
Language	J
AuthorList	Yoshitaka Ohigashi
Affiliation	Kyoto University International Center/Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies
Publication	Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 21 (3), 146-156, 2005
Received
Accepted
Abstract	The lesion which might be responsible for the symptom of "apraxia of speech" has been recently discussed. Dronkers (1996) insisted the critical role of left anterior part of insula (precentral gyrus of insula) and Hillis et al (2004) have demonstrated the MRI overlapping lesion data with AOS and without AOS patients. They considered Broca area as the crucial part for the manifestation of AOS symptom. However, because AOS is essentially equal to anarthria or phonetic disintegration syndrome, we have to take at least important autopsy case reports of pure anarthria into account. We know very well that a famous historical case reported by Lecours and Lhermitte (1976) concerning anatomo-clinical aspects of pure anarthria gave us the most persuasive evidence on the localization of anarthria to inferior part of left precentral gyrus. Dronkers and Hillis et al. have treated many cases with or without AOS but never case of pure AOS. We could not draw a definitive conclusion on the localization of AOS from lesion data of Broca aphasia with AOS because of unknown interaction between AOS and other aphasic symptoms.
Keywords	anarthria, apraxia of speech (AOS), localisation precentral gyrus, anterior insula, Broca area