Chapter 14 APHASIA I: CLINICAL AND ANATOMIC ISSUES

The clinical study of aphasia began in 1861 with the observations of Paul Broca.1 Within 40 or 50 years, all of the basic clinical phenomena re-viewed here had been described and many of the major flashpoints of clinical and theoretical dis-agreement had been identified. In the past 20 years, fresh interest has come to clinical aphasia research from two directions: modern neuroimag-ing and cognitive neurosciences. Together, they have additionally provided tools to carry out aphasia-related language experiments in normals. Furthermore, old questions such as cerebral later-ality, the influence of handedness, the effects of gender and bilingualism on aphasia, and the mechanisms of recovery have been reexplored