Unexpected Anatomical, Findings in a Case of Fluent Jargon Aphasia

Fluent-euarthric-meaningless linguistic segments witnessing a tendency to paragrammatism and non-fluent-dysarthric-meaningful linguistic segments witnessing a tendency to agrammatism were observed to coexist in the oral linguistic productions of a right-handed CVA patient with severe “Wernicke's aphasia”. Extensive bilateral cortico-subcortical infarcts were found at autopsy: among other structures, Broca's area and Wernicke's area proper, together with their interconnecting fibres of the arcuate bundle, were destroyed in near totality; there was little involvement of the left supramarginal gyrus and complete sparing of the left angular gyrus; the striatum, pallidum and thalamus were bilaterally uninvolved. It is suggested that motor control in the production of fluent-euarthric-meaningless jargon was assumed by the spared subcortical gray and that only the non-fluentdysarthric-meaningful productions constituted a direct expression of the destruction of Broca's area.