Do single right hemisphere infarcts or transient ischaemic attacks result in aprosody?

Abstract

The ability to perceive and express prosodic qualities of speech was tested in 21 patients with a single focal ischaemic disturbance of the right hemisphere, 14 patients having an infarct and 7 transient ischaemic attacks, and in 21 age-matched normal controls. All patients were predominantly right-handed. None showed signs of aphasia. Pure tone audiometry showed acceptable hearing for speech. The cerebral lesions were assessed by clinical neurologic examination, and by CT, EEG and measurement of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) using intravenous 133-xenon. The prosodia test included items testing: the ability to perceive accentual and emotional qualities of speech, and the ability to express and vary such qualities. The test did not discriminate between the patients and the controls, although some patients had large right-sided lesions. This negative finding indicates that aprosody in patients with brain lesions appears more difficult to detect than has previously been assumed. Highly sensitive tests are most likely required.