Victor W. Henderson

Early concepts of conduction aphasia.

Henderson VW, Conduction Aphasia. 1992: 23-38

Conduction aphasia played a central role in the diagram-maker's view of how the brain functioned in language and proved a useful focus of attack for their detractors. However, the legacy of the aphasiological iconoclasts and neurological holists was such that until recently many investigators doubted the very existence of conduction aphasia. It is now evident that conduction aphasia is far from uncommon and that several syndromes of conduction aphasia can be distinguished by neuropsychological criteria. Wernicke's orignal pathoanatomical concept of a white matter disconnection between two speech centers is still accepted in portions of the modern literature, and indeed the arcuate fasciculus appears to be implicated in most conduction aphasics. However, concomitant cortical damage is inevitably present as well, and a simple disconnection hypothesis no longer suffices to explain the rich variety of clinical and experimental observations. Issues raised by this controversial disorder remain central to our understanding of language, of how language is represented within the brain, and of how language is altered by cerebral injury. (Henderson VW. Early concepts of conduction aphasia. In: SE Kohn (ed), Conduction Aphasia. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992, pp 23-38.)