Harvey L. Levine

An extraordinary form of confabulation

We describe five patients with spontaneous, persistent confabulation. While the basis of confabulation in general is not known, the evidence in this specific group of patients with spectacular, impulsive, and spontaneous confabulation suggests a marked deficit in frontal function, superimposed upon a basic defect in memory, as a possible mechanism.

CT scan Cerebral Hemispheric Asymmetry Measurements in Stroke Cases with Global Aphasia: Atypical Asymmetries Associated with Improved Recovery

This study was undertaken in order to examine the relationship between CT scan hemispheric asymmetries and recovery in aphasia. The study had two parts. In Part I, hemispheric asymmetries were measured on the CT scans of 60 right-handed male non-aphasic (non-neurological) controls and 89 right-handed male aphasics, using a modification of LeMays (1977) techniques. Both the non-aphasic control and aphasic data were in agreement with that of LeMay for frontal width, occipital width and occipital length. In Part II, the degree of CT scan hemispheric asymmetry was quantified for 14 right-handed male global aphasics, in whom differences in degree of language recovery were observed in the months following stroke. Atypical occipital asymmetries were significantly associated with certain aspects of language recovery (naming, single-word comprehension and single-word repetition). The authors postulate that increased capacity for right hemisphere contribution to language function might in part explain recovery in the cases exhibiting atypical occipital CT asymmetries.

Long-term effects of prefrontal leucotomy--an overview of neuropsychologic residuals.

A battery of neuropsychologic tests was administered to 16 schizophrenics who had undergone prefrontal leucotomy approximately 25 years earlier. The 16 were divided into three groups based on their recovery after surgery. Five non-leucotomized chronic schizophrenics and five normal subjects served as controls. This paper presents a description of the subject population, a listing of the neuropsychologic battery administered, as well as main results from each major psychologic function tested. This information serves as an introduction and an overview for later detailed results.