TY - ABST

T1 - Reading faces and Facing words

AU - Robotham, Julia Emma

AU - Lindegaard, Martin Weis

AU - Delfi, Tzvetelina Shentova

AU - Rostrup, Egill

AU - Iversen, Helle

AU - Starrfelt, Randi

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - It has long been argued that perceptual processing of faces and words is largely independent, highly specialised and strongly lateralised. Studies of patients with either pure alexia or prosopagnosia have strongly contributed to this view. The aim of our study was to investigate how visual perception of faces and words is affected by unilateral posterior stroke. Two patients with lesions in theirdominant hemisphere and two with lesions in their non-dominant hemisphere were tested on sensitive tests of face and word perception during the stable phase of recovery. Despite all patients having unilateral lesions, we found no patient with a selective deficit in either reading or face processing. Rather, the patients showing a deficit in processing either words or faces were also impaired with the other category. One patient performed within the normal range on all tasks. In addition, all patients performed within normal range on at least one test of visual categorisation, strongly suggesting that their abnormal performance with words and faces does not represent a generalised visuo-perceptual deficit. Our results suggest that posterior areas in both hemispheresmay be critical for both reading and face processing, indicating that these processes may be more associated than previously thought.

AB - It has long been argued that perceptual processing of faces and words is largely independent, highly specialised and strongly lateralised. Studies of patients with either pure alexia or prosopagnosia have strongly contributed to this view. The aim of our study was to investigate how visual perception of faces and words is affected by unilateral posterior stroke. Two patients with lesions in theirdominant hemisphere and two with lesions in their non-dominant hemisphere were tested on sensitive tests of face and word perception during the stable phase of recovery. Despite all patients having unilateral lesions, we found no patient with a selective deficit in either reading or face processing. Rather, the patients showing a deficit in processing either words or faces were also impaired with the other category. One patient performed within the normal range on all tasks. In addition, all patients performed within normal range on at least one test of visual categorisation, strongly suggesting that their abnormal performance with words and faces does not represent a generalised visuo-perceptual deficit. Our results suggest that posterior areas in both hemispheresmay be critical for both reading and face processing, indicating that these processes may be more associated than previously thought.

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

Y2 - 29 August 2013 through 1 September 2013

ER -