Abstract
We reported a case of a 77 year-old right-handed woman who presented right unilateral agraphia due to left frontal lobe infarction. MRI revealed the lesion was isolated to the area from the left posterior middle frontal gyrus, so-called Exner's area, to the anterior precentral gyrus. At the end of 1994, she noticed a slight difficulty in speaking when she talked with her family at noon. She also noticed a difficulty in writing when she tried to take notes. Neurological examinations revealed no abnormalities except right unilateral palatal paralysis. Furthermore, no weakness of the right upper extremity was revealed. Though her speech was a little slow, apraxia of speech, limb kinetic apraxia and constructual disturbance were not detected. Copying and drawing abilities were well preserved. Her writing was slow and laborious. In both spontaneous and dictatorial writings, her ability to scribe (kanji, kana, number) with right hand only showed deterioration. Most of the letter formation was poor. She could not remember the way she used to write. However, writing with her left hand was unimpaired. The present agraphia is assumed to be caused by abnormalities on translating stored writing motor images in parietal lobe into motor programs in frontal lobe.
