ATYPICAL DOMINANCE FOR LANGUAGE IN DEVELOPMENTAL DYSPHASIA

The authors report an association between developmental language disor der and acquired aphasia in a 13-year-old right-handed boy. Acquired a phasia was caused by a right-frontal abscess (crossed aphasia). It was non-fluent, with a disorder of auditory comprehension, an unusual fea ture of pre-rolandic lesions. This case shows that developmental langu age impairment can be associated not only with an atypical cerebral do minance, but also with unusual patterns of intrahemispheric specializa tion. The rapid and complete recovery of this boy's aphasia suggests t hat the cerebral plasticity for acquired lesions can be normal in such cases.