Dissociation of motor impairment and higher-level brain deficits in strokes and cerebral neoplasms

Abstract This study evaluated primary motor ability (finger tapping speed) of each hand and dysphasia and constructional dyspraxia in groups of 30 subjects, each of whom had a left or right cerebral neoplasm or stroke. The results identified strongly significant clusters of variables: (1) left cerebral damage, dysphasia, and right-sided motor impairment, and (2) right cerebral damage, constructional dyspraxia, and left-sided motor impairment. A procedure for data analysis was developed which permitted a comparative analysis of the degree of deficits associated with lateralized lesions. The results indicated that dysphasia and constructional dyspraxia were equivalently impaired with left or right cerebral damage, respectively, in tumor and stroke groups, but that finger tapping speed was comparatively spared in groups with lateralized tumors.