CHARACTERISTICS OF SYNTACTIC COMPREHENSION DEFICITS FOLLOWING CLOSED HEAD-INJURY VERSUS LEFT CEREBROVASCULAR ACCIDENT

Two studies examined the ability to assign thematic roles and to coindex referentially dependent noun phrases in closed head injured adults, adult stroke patients, and normal adults. The subjects' task was to enact target sentences by manipulating toy animals. Closed head injured and stroke patients demonstrated a significant effect of syntactic structure on sentence comprehension, and the patterns of breakdown in the ability to assign thematic roles and coindex referentially dependent noun phrases were strikingly similar in the two groups. These findings suggest that syntactic comprehension disturbances are similar following left cerebral hemisphere infarction and closed head injury.