Neural Dissociation within Language: Lexical Memory is Part of Declarative Memory Grammatical Rules are Processed by Procedural System

Posterior Aphasia

Lesions: Left temporal regions

Behavior:

• Impaired at content words, conceptual knowledge, irregulars

• No agrammatism, no difficulty with regulars, no motor problems

Neurological: Aphasia

First Language

Anterior Aphasia

Lesions: Left inferior frontal and basal ganglia structures

Behavior:

• Agrammatism, problems with regulars, motor deficits

• Relative sparing of content words, irregulars, conceptual knowledge

Compensation: Storage of complex forms (eg, walked) in lexical memory

(Goodglass, 1993; Alexander, 1997; Ullman, et al., 1997; Ullman, Pancheva, et al., in press)