PRESERVED SEMANTIC ACCESS IN NEGLECT DYSLEXIA

The aim of this study was to investigate the preservation of semantic access in patients with severe neglect dyslexia for words and non-word s. Patients were given the following tasks: (1) reading aloud letter s trings (first basic reading task), (2) making semantic decisions (cate gorial and inferential judgements), (3) making semantic decisions and reading the letter strings immediately afterwards (semantic-reading ta sks), (4) reading letter strings again (final basic reading tasks) and (5) auditory control tasks. Of 23 patients with Visual neglect, four showed neglect dyslexia for both words and non-words. Of these four pa tients, three showed, a performance in the semantic tasks that was as good as in the auditory condition. Moreover, the reading of the patien ts improved dramatically in the semantic-reading tasks but this was no t maintained in the final basic reading task. Non-words showed only a minor improvement. Findings are discussed in terms of an interaction b etween the attentional system and the different reading routes, and pr ovide evidence that semantic routes are less affected by neglect. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.