ABSTRACT This project addresses the question of language deficits due to left-hemisphere brain insult and the neuroanatomical structures associated with them. We plan to analyze language performance data form a large number of right-handed patients with left- hemisphere lesions in order to arrive at a more detailed understanding of their linguistic deficits. We will then correlate these specific linguistic impairments with neuroimaging data in order to discover whether these specific deficits are associated with damage to particular areas of the brain. This methodology has already been successful in uncovering the neurophysiological basis for apraxia of speech and in showing that damage to Broca's area alone does not lead to Broca's aphasia. The results fo this project will lead to a more accurate characterization of linguistic deficits, specific correlations of these deficits with site of lesion, and, ultimately, a better understanding of the flow of linguistic information in the brain.
