Upper and lower face apraxia: role of the right hemisphere

The aim of this study was to evaluate face apraxia in left- and right-hemis phere-damaged patients both in the acute and chronic stage of their disease . Two newly devised tests that assess movements of the upper and lower face districts were employed. On the whole, the proportion of left-hemisphere-d amaged patients showing face apraxia were 46 and 68% for upper and lower fa ce, respectively. A substantial proportion of right-hemisphere-damaged pati ents also showed face apraxia, i.e. 44% upper face and 38% lower face. Conc omitant variables such as general severity, locus of lesion, language or vi suo-spatial impairments, presence of neglect, interval from stroke, peculia rity of clusters of items or scoring procedures did not account for these r esults. These findings suggest that face apraxia in some patients may affec t movements of the upper face district and that the right hemisphere plays a significant part in both upper and lower face praxis.