ABSTRACT
Word deafness is an intriguing neurological syndrome characterized by severe difficulties
in the ability to understand or reproduce spoken language with otherwise intact speech
production and nonauditory language comprehension. The disorder is of significant
theoretical importance because it putatively supports the modularity of speech recognition
from more central language computational networks. However, the specificity and functional
locus of the processing disturbances resulting in word deafness remains unclear. This
article discusses the nature and potential treatment of word deafness, with particular
reference to a detailed case study (neuropsychological, neuroimaging, and event-related
potential) of an adult case of Landau-Kleffner syndrome. The findings in this case
suggested temporal lobe pathophysiology involving cortical mechanisms concerned with
temporal processing of rapid frequency changes in sound. We propose that these deficits
may impede the analysis of linguistically important transitional frequency cues in
speech and account for the profound difficulties in understanding and producing speech.
The implications of these findings for approaches to the treatment of word deafness
are discussed.
KEYWORDS
Aphasia - Landau-Kleffner syndrome - epilepsy
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Gerry A StefanatosD.Phil.
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University
1201 13th Street, Suite 111, Philadelphia, PA 19122
Email: stefang@temple.edu
