Semantic dyslexia is, as the name suggests, a subtype of the group of cognitive disorders known as alexia (acquired dyslexia). Those who suffer from semantic dyslexia are unable to properly attach words to their meanings in reading and/or speech. When confronted with the word "diamond", they may understand it as "sapphire", "shiny" or "diamonds"; when asking for a bus ticket, they may ask for some paper or simply "a thing".
Semantic dementia (SD) is a degenerative disease characterized by atrophy of anterior temporal regions (the primary auditory cortex; process auditory information) and progressive loss of semantic memory. SD patients often present with surface dyslexia, a relatively selective impairment in reading low-frequency words with exceptional or atypical spelling-to-sound correspondences.[1]
References
- ^ Wilson, SM; Brambati, SM; Henry, RG; Handwerker, DA; Agosta, F; Miller, BL; Wilkins, DP; Ogar, JM; Gorno-Tempini, ML (Jan 2009). "The neural basis of surface dyslexia in semantic dementia". Brain : A Journal of Neurology. 132 (Pt 1): 71–86. doi:10.1093/brain/awn300. PMC 2638692. PMID 19022856.
Further reading
- Marshall JC.; Newcombe, F. (Jul 1973). "Patterns of paralexia: a psycholinguistic approach". J Psycholinguist Res. 2 (3): 175–99. doi:10.1007/BF01067101. PMID 4795473. S2CID 145387879.