Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Case Report

A case of bilingual aphasia with language mixing between Japanese and English caused by superior longitudinal fasciculus lesion\a study using functional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging\

Masaharu Sawaki, S.T., MA.1), Hiroyasu Yamamoto, S.T., MA.2) Kazuya Motomura, M.D., Ph.D.3), Masahiko Yamamoto, M.D., Ph.D.4), Kenji Furukawa, R.T.5) and Osamu Saito, M.D.6)

1) Division of Rehabilitation, Kushiro Kojinkai Memorial Hospital
2) Division of Rehabilitation, Nagoya University Hospital
3) Department of Neurosurgery, Nagoya University School of Medicine
4) Department of Health Science, Aichi Gakuin University
5) Division of Radiology, Kushiro Kojinkai Memorial Hospital
6) Department of Neurosurgery, Kushiro Kojinkai Memorial Hospital

We report a case of left-handed bilingual aphasia with phonemic paraphasia and language mixing from Japanese as a first language to English as a second language. The lesion caused by cerebral infarction was mainly localized in the left parietal lobe white matter. The patient was a 46-year-old, left-handed woman who was bilingual in Japanese and English. Both auditory and visual comprehensions were well maintained after the acute phase of the disease; however, language mixing between Japanese and English was observed during Japanese speech. A pathophysiological interpretation of this case required a focus on the brain network. Our findings suggest that lesions of the superior longitudinal fasciculus and arcuate fasciculus of the white matter fibers just below the left inferior parietal lobule are associated with bilingual aphasia.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (2340K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 62: 707|715, 2022)
key words: bilingual, aphasia, language mixing, superior longitudinal fasciculus, diffusion tensor image

(Received: 27-Sep-21)