Neuropsychological characteristics of five children with the Landau-Kleffner syndrome: Dissociation of auditory and phonological discrimination

The Landau-Kleffner Syndrome (LKS) is characterized by acquired receptive a phasia and EEG abnormality with onset between the ages of 3 and 8 years. Th is study presents neuropsychological assessments in 5 children with LKS. Th e aims were (1) to specify the neuropsychological deficits characteristic o f these children; and (2) to clarify the nature of the receptive aphasia by comparing nonverbal and verbal auditory discrimination. Receptive aphasia was present in all children. Retardation, poor motor coordination, hyperkin esia, and conduct problems were frequent but variable. All children exhibit ed a dissociation between the discrimination of environmental sounds and ph onological auditory discrimination, the latter being more impaired than the former. This suggests that the primary deficit of the receptive aphasia is an impairment of auditory phonological discrimination rather than a genera lized auditory agnosia.