Phonological alexia y surface alexia in Spanish-speaking patients

Abstract

We present two case studies of aphasic Spanish-speaking patients showing two different forms of alteration in reading ability. Patient LT shows symptoms of phonological alexia, and patient MM shows superficial alexia. Both cases represent a double dissociation that is relevant to the discussion of whether the typology of alexia and the dual-route reading models proposed by cognitive neuropsychology are applicable to Spanish. We present the necessary tests for demonstrating these profiles in patients that use a transparent writing system like Spanish, and we discuss how the results affect the theoretical proposals for the dual-route and obligatory phonological mediation models.