Affiliations: Programme de Médecine Expérimentale,
Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, QC,
Canada | Centre de Recherche de I'Institut Universitaire en
Santé Mentale de Québec, Québec, QC, Canada | Institut des Sciences du Langage et de la
Communication, Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines,
Université de Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Suisse | Programme de Maîtrise en Orthophonie,
Département de Réadaptation, Faculté de Médecine,
Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, QC, Canada | Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en
Réadaptation et Intégration Sociale (CIRRIS), Québec, QC,
Canada
Note: [] Corresponding author: Joël Macoir,
Centre de Recherche de I'Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de
Québec, Québec, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Phonological dyslexia is a written language disorder characterized
by poor reading of nonwords when compared with relatively preserved ability in
reading real words. In this study, we report the case of FG, a 74-year-old man
with phonological dyslexia. The nature and origin of his reading impairment
were assessed using tasks involving activation and explicit manipulation of
phonological representations as well as reading of words and nonwords in which
the nature and complexity of grapheme-to-phoneme conversion rules (GPC rules)
were manipulated. FG also underwent an extensive neuropsychological assessment
battery in which he showed impaired performance in tests exploring verbal
working memory and executive functions. FG showed no phonological impairment,
and his performance was also largely unimpaired for reading words, with no
effect of concreteness, grammatical class, morphological complexity, length or
nature and complexity of the GPC rules. However, he showed substantial
difficulties when asked to read nonwords with contextual GPC rules. The
contribution of FG's executive deficits to his performance in reading is
discussed.
