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Neuropediatrics 2022; 53(04): 295-298
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1733983
Short Communication

Aphasia and a Dual-Stream Language Model in a 4-Year-Old Female with Landau–Kleffner Syndrome

Michiko Kawai 
1   Division of Neurology, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan
,
Yuichi Abe
1   Division of Neurology, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan
,
Masato Yumoto
2   Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
,
Masaya Kubota 
1   Division of Neurology, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan
3   Department of Pediatrics, Shimada Ryoiku Medical Center for Challenged Children, Tokyo, Japan
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Abstract

Landau–Kleffner syndrome (LKS) is a rare neurological disorder characterized by acquired aphasia. LKS presents with distinctive electroencephalography (EEG) findings, including diffuse continuous spike and wave complexes (CSW), particularly during sleep. There has been little research on the mechanisms of aphasia and its origin within the brain and how it recovers. We diagnosed LKS in a 4-year-old female with an epileptogenic zone located primarily in the right superior temporal gyrus or STG (nondominant side). In the course of her illness, she had early signs of motor aphasia recovery but was slow to regain language comprehension and recover from hearing loss. We suggest that the findings from our patient's brain imaging and the disparity between her recovery from expressive and receptive aphasias are consistent with the dual-stream model of speech processing in which the nondominant hemisphere also plays a significant role in language comprehension. Unlike aphasia in adults, the right-hemisphere disorder has been reported to cause delays in language comprehension and gestures in early childhood. In the period of language acquisition, it requires a process of understanding what the words mean by integrating and understanding the visual, auditory, and contextual information. It is thought that the right hemisphere works predominantly with respect to its integrating role.

Keywords

Landau–Kleffner syndrome - aphasia - dual-stream model - epileptogenic zone

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 14 April 2021

Accepted: 08 July 2021

Article published online:
01 December 2021

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