Abstract

Thalamic injury from various natural causes, including tumours an haemorrhage, has been reported to lead abnormalities of language. The pathophysiology of these language disorders remains controversial because the naturally occurring thalamic lesions often are associated with mass effects. Two patients are described with hypodense left thalamic lesions, shown by computed tomography, probably representing infarction. Both patients had aphasia, but neither had evidence of appreciable brain swelling or distortion, nor were cortical language areas damaged.