Multi-modal Treatment of Phonological Alexia: Behavioral and Pilot fMRI Outcomes

Post-stroke phonological alexia is characterized by impaired reading of pseudowords, with relatively intact reading or orthographically irregular words. We conducted a single-subject repeated-probe research study of a multi-modal treatment of phonological processing and reading skills in five adults with phonological alexia. Based on the phonological deficit hypothesis, treatment tasks involved training written and verbal phonological skills. Visual inspection of repeated-probe graphs and standardized test scores provided evidence of improved phonological processing and real word reading skills for only some participants. One participant’s Pilot fMRI of overt pseudoword reading and pseudoword repeating exhibited perilesional and right-hemisphere neural reorganization.