On the nature of conduction aphasia: A longitudinal case study

A longitudinal investigation is reported of an English-speaking conduction aphasic as an attempt to provide fresh insights into some unresolved issues pertaining to this syndrome. Data were collected from specially designed single word and sentence production tasks on picture naming, oral reading and repetition, conversational and expository speech, as well as standard aphasia test protocols on seven separate occasions over a six-month period. Significant changes took place gradually during the six-month recovery period that cannot be ascribed merely to an across-the-board decrease in the severity of his aphasic syndrome. The patient's naming and reading performance improved substantially over the first six months, whereas repetition remained disproportionately impaired. These findings are brought to bear on notions related to proposed subgroups of conduction aphasia and the evolution of aphasic syndromes.