Characteristics
editAgraphia or impairment in producing written language can occur in many ways and many forms because writing involves many cognitive processes (language processing, spelling, visual perception, visuospatial orientation for graphic symbols, motor planning, and motor control of handwriting).[1]
Agraphia has two main subgroupings: central ("aphasic") agraphia and peripheral ("nonaphasic") agraphia. Central agraphias include lexical, phonological, deep, and semantic agraphia. Peripheral agraphias include allographic, apraxic, motor execution, hemianoptic and afferent agraphia.[2]
Central agraphia
editCentral agraphia occurs when there are both impairments in spoken language and impairments to the various motor and visualization skills involved in writing.[3]
- Individuals who have agraphia with fluent aphasia write a normal quantity of well-formed letters, but lack the ability to write meaningful words. Receptive aphasia is an example of fluent aphasia.[3]
- Individuals who have agraphia with nonfluent aphasia can write brief sentences but they are difficult to read. Their writing requires great physical effort but lacks proper syntax and often has poor spelling. Expressive aphasia is an example of nonfluent aphasia.[1]
- Individuals who have Alexia with agraphia have difficulty with both the production and comprehension of written language. This form of agraphia does not impair spoken language.[1]
- Gerstmann syndrome agraphia is the impairment of written language production associated with the following structural symptoms: difficulty discriminating between one's own fingers, difficulty distinguishing left from right, and difficulty performing calculations.[4][5] All four of these symptoms result from pathway lesions.[5] Gerstmann's syndrome may additionally be present with alexia and mild aphasia.[1][4]
- Pure agraphia is the impairment in written language production without any other language or cognitive disorder.[1]
- Deep agraphia affects an individuals’ phonological ability and orthographic memory. Deep agraphia is often the result of a lesion involving the left parietal region (supramarginal gyrus or insula).[6][1] Individuals can neither remember how words look when spelled correctly, nor sound them out to determine spelling. Individuals typically rely on their damaged orthographic memory to spell; this results in frequent errors, usually semantic in nature.[6] Individuals have more difficulty with abstract concepts and uncommon words. Reading and spoken language are often impaired as well.[6]
- Global agraphia also impairs an individuals' orthographic memory although to a greater extent than deep agraphia. In global apraxia, spelling knowledge is lost to such a degree that the individual can only write very few meaningful words, or cannot write any words at all.[6] Reading and spoken language are also markedly impaired.[6]
- Phonological agraphia is the opposite of lexical agraphia in that the ability to sound out words is impaired, but the orthographical memory of words may be intact.[7] It is associated with a lexicality effect by a difference in the ability to spell words versus nonwords; individuals with this form of agraphia are depending on their orthographic memory.[6] Additionally, it is often harder for these individuals to access more abstract words without strong semantic representations (i.e., it is more difficult for them to spell prepositions than concrete nouns).[6]
- Lexical and Structural agraphia are caused by damage to the orthographic memory; these individuals cannot visualize the spelling of a word, though they do retain the ability to sound them out.[6] This impaired spelling memory can imply the loss or degradation of the knowledge or just an inability to efficiently access it.[6] There is a regularity effect associated with lexical agraphia in that individuals are less likely to correctly spell words without regular, predictable spellings.[6] Additionally, spelling ability tends to be less impaired for common words.[6] Individuals also have difficulty with homophones.[6] Language competence in terms of grammar and sentence writing tends to be preserved.[6]
Peripheral agraphia
editPeripheral agraphias occurs when there is damage to the various motor and visualization skills involved in writing.[1]
- Apraxic agraphia is the impairment in written language production associated with disruption of the motor system. It results in distorted, slow, effortful, incomplete, and/or imprecise letter formation.[8] Though written letters are often so poorly formed that they are almost illegible, the ability to spell aloud is often retained.[6] This form of agraphia is caused specifically by a loss of specialized motor plans for the formation of letters and not by any dysfunction affecting the writing hand.[8][6] Apraxic agraphia may present with or without ideomotor apraxia.[8] Paralysis, chorea, Parkinson's disease (micrographia), and dystonia (writer's cramp) are motor disorders commonly associated with agraphia.[1][3]
- Individuals who have Reiterative agraphia repeat letters, words, or phrases in written language production an abnormal number of times. Preservation, paragraphia, and echographia are examples of reiterative agraphia.[1]
- Visuospatial agraphia is the impairment in written language production defined by a tendency to neglect one portion (often an entire side) of the writing page, slanting lines upward or downward, and abnormal spacing between letters, syllables, and words.[1][9] The orientation and correct sequencing of the writing will also be impaired.[9] Visuospatial agraphia is frequently associated with left hemispatial neglect, difficulty in building or assembling objects, and other spatial difficulties.[9][10]
- Hysterical agraphia is the impairment in written language production caused by a conversion disorder.[1]
Agraphia occurs when a person's ability to write becomes impaired by brain damage such as lesions and disease. Agraphia is often found in association with many other disorders including Alexia, Agnosia, Apraxia, and Aphasia [11]
History
editIn 1553 Thomas Wilson's book Arte of Rhetorique held the earliest known written description of agraphia. In his book, Wilson discussed memory and its location in the head. During this discussion, he described a case of what would now be called acquired agraphia. However, it was not until the second half of the nineteenth century that the loss of the ability to produce written language sparked widespread clinical interest. During this time, ideas about localization in the brain greatly influenced studies about dissociation between written and spoken language as well as reading and writing. After the acceptance of Paul Broca's localization of the language faculty to the left inferior frontal lobe, researchers across Europe and North America began conducting studies on the correlation between lesions and loss of function in various cortical areas. [3]
In the beginning to the nineteenth century, people lacked the knowledge about the movements need to produce written language.[12] During the 1850s, leading clinicians around the world such as Armand Trousseau and John Hughlings Jackson held the prevailing view that the same linguistic deficiency occurred in writing as well as speech and reading impairments. However, in 1856, Louis-Victor Marcé argued that written and spoken language were independent of each other. Through his work, he discovered that in many patients with languages disorders, both speech and writing was impaired. However, the recovery of written and spoken language was not always run parallel suggesting that these two modes of expression were independent of each other. He also believed the ability to write not only involved motor control, but also the memory of the signs and their meaning. [3]
Six years after Broca's first case of aphemia, William Ogle, who coined the term "agraphia", produced a literature review in which he made several key observations by looked at the patterns of dissociations found in written and spoken language. He demonstrated that some patients with writing impairments were able to copy written letters but struggled arranging the letters to form words. Olge knew that aphasia and agraphia often occurred together, but he confirmed that the impairment of two different types of language (i.e. spoken and written) can vary in type and/or severity. Although Olge's review helped make important advancements toward understanding writing disorders, it was lacking a documented cases of pure agraphia. [3]
In 1884, over two decades after the research of acquired language disorders began, Albert Pitres made a very important contribution to the study of writing and writing disorders. Pitres became the first author to publish a clinical report of pure agraphia. [13] According Pitres's, Marcé and Ogle were the first to emphasize the dissociation between speech and writing. His work was also strongly influenced by Théodule-Armand Ribot's modular approach to memory. [12] Pitres's clinical case study in 1884 argues forthe localization of writing in the brain. [13] Pitres's had reading and writing models which consisted of three main components: a visual component (the memory for letters and how letters are put together to form syllables and word), an auditory component (the memory for the sounds of each letter), and a motor component (motor-graphic memory of the letters). On a basis of the cases Pitres disscused in his article, he purposed the following classifications of agraphia:
- Agraphia by word blindness. The patient does not have the ability to copy a model. However, they can write spontaneously and to dictation.
- Agraphia by word deafness. The patient no longer has the ability to write to dictation. However, they can copy a model and write spontaneously.
- Motor agraphia. The patient has lost all ability to write. However, they can still spell.
In his conclusion, Pitres emphasizes that, in cases of agaphia, the Intellect is not systematically impaired. [12] Research in the twentieth century, primarily focused on Aphasiology in patients with lesions from cerebrovascular accidents.It was from these studies that researches gained significant insight into the complex cognitive process of producing writing language. [3]
Causes
editCharacteristics
editSince writing involves many cognitive processes (language processing, spelling, visual perception, visuospatial orientation for graphic symbols, motor planning, and motor control of writing), producing written language can be impaired at a various places. Therefore, there are many forms of agraphia.[11] The following tables only contain some of the many types of agraphia.
Aphasic Agraphias
editAphasic agraphia occurs when impairments in written and spoken language are associated. [3]
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Agraphia with fluent aphasia | Individuals have normal quantity of well-formed letters. However they lack of meaningful words.(Wernicke's aphasia is an example of fluent aphasia)[3] |
| Agraphia with nonfluent aphasia | Individuals have sparse, brief writing that is difficult to read. Their writing requires great physical effort but lacks proper syntax and often has poor spelling.( Broca's aphasia is an example of nonfluent aphasia)[11] |
| Alexia with agraphia | Individuals have difficulty with both the production and comprehension of only written language. This form of agraphia does not impair spoken language. [11] |
| Gertsmann's syndrome agraphia | The impairment of written language production associated with acalculia, finger agnosia, and left-right confusion.[3] |
| Pure agraphia | Impairment in written language production in absence of any other language or cognitive disorder.[11] |
| Deep agraphia | Individuals have difficulty in spelling certain classes of words as well as nonwords. They are better at writing words with concrete, imaginable meaning rather than abstract meaning. They are also better at writing semantic words (nouns and verbs) than syntactic words (propositions and conjunctions). Patients with deep agraphia often have lesions involving the left parietal region (supramarginal gyrus or insula)[11] |
Nonaphasic Agraphias
editThe production of written language requires more than just language abilities. Nonaphasic agraphias occurs when there is damage to the various motor and visualization skills involved in writing. [11] |-
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Motor agraphia | Impairment in written language production associated with and disruption of the motor system. Paralysis, chorea, Parkinson's disease ( micrographia), and dystonia (writer's cramp) are some examples of motor disorders commonly associated with agraphia.[11] [3] |
| Reiterative agraphia | Individuals repeat letters, words, or phrases in written language production abnormal number of times. Preservation, paligraphia, and echographia are all examples of reiterative agraphia. [11] |
| Visuospatial agraphia | Impairments in written language production associated with visuospatial disorders such as neglect. Individuals often neglect a portion of the writing page, slant lines, and have abnormal spacing between letters, syllables, words.[11] |
| Hysterical agraphia | Impairment in written language production caused by a hysterical conversion symptom. |
Prevention and Management
editFuture Research
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cite error: The named reference
Sinanović 2011was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ [unreliable medical source?] Mariën P, de Smet E, de Smet HJ, Wackenier P, Dobbeleir A, Verhoeven J (February 2013). ""Apraxic dysgraphia" in a 15-year-old left-handed patient: disruption of the cerebello-cerebral network involved in the planning and execution of graphomotor movements". Cerebellum. 12 (1): 131–9. doi:10.1007/s12311-012-0395-1. PMID 22752975.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lorch, Marjorie (June 2013). "Written Language Production Disorders: Historical and Recent Perspectives". Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports. 369. 13 (8): 1. doi:10.1007/s11910-013-0369-9. PMID 23793932. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ a b Rusconi E, Pinel P, Dehaene S, Kleinschmidt A (February 2010). "The enigma of Gerstmann's syndrome revisited: a telling tale of the vicissitudes of neuropsychology". Brain. 133 (Pt 2): 320–32. doi:10.1093/brain/awp281. PMID 19903731.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Zukic S, Mrkonjic Z, Sinanovic O, Vidovic M, Kojic B (December 2012). "Gerstmann's syndrome in acute stroke patients". Acta Inform Med. 20 (4): 242–3. doi:10.5455/aim.2012.20.242-243. PMC 3558292. PMID 23378691.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cite error: The named reference
Treatmentwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Phonological Agraphiawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c De Smet HJ, Engelborghs S, Paquier PF, De Deyn PP, Mariën P (August 2011). "Cerebellar-induced apraxic agraphia: a review and three new cases". Brain Cogn. 76 (3): 424–34. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2010.12.006. PMID 21507544.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c Grigorenko E (2012). Writing: a mosaic of new perspectives. Pyschology Press. p. 316. ISBN 978-1848728127.
- ^ [unreliable medical source?] Ardila A, Rosselli M (July 1993). "Spatial agraphia". Brain Cogn. 22 (2): 137–47. doi:10.1006/brcg.1993.1029. PMID 8373568.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sinanovic, O (2011). "Post-Stroke Language Disorders". Acta Clinica Croatica. 50 (1): 79–93.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c Barrière, Isabelle; Lorch, Marjorie Perlman (2004). "Premature Thoughts on Writing Disorders". Neurocase. 10 (2): 103. doi:10.1080/13554790409609941. PMID 15788249.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ a b Lorch, Marjorie Perlman (29). "The history of written language disorders: Reexamining Pitres' case (1884) of pure agraphia". Brain and Language. 85 (2003): 271–279. doi:10.1016/S0093-934X(02)00595-3. PMID 12735944.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)