Abstract
In past studies, differences in the reading processes for kanji and kana in cases of pure alexia have been discussed. However, comparisons have been insufficient between the process of kinesthetic facilitation reading of kanji and that of kana. Here, we described a case of pure alexia caused by a lesion from the left occipital lobe to the corpus callosum. The patient was a right-handed, 51-year-old male. He was a university graduate and a senior high school teacher. He had prominent alexia, although auditory comprehension, spontaneous speech and spontaneous writing were preserved. In this case, the standard test of aphasia showed that reading of kana was better than reading of kanji. We compared his reading of kana and kanji under various conditions : complexity, familiarity and frequency. No significant differences were found between reading of kanji and kana in oral reading and kinesthetic facilitation reading under the conditions of simple form, high familiarity and high frequency. But significant differences were found between reading of kanji under the conditions of simple form, high familiarity and high frequency and reading of kanji under the conditions of complex form, low familiarity and low frequency, in both oral reading and kinesthetic facilitation reading. In addition, kinesthetic facilitation reading tended to facilitate effectively the reading of kanji under the conditions of complex form, low familiarity and low frequency. In this case, the reading process of kanji may vary depending on complexity, familiarity and frequency.
