A selective loss of the ability to read and to write music

Abstract

This paper is a single case study of a professional musician, PKC, with a selective impairment in reading, writing and understanding musical notation. After sustaining a left posterior temporal lobe lesion and a small right occipito-temporal lesion in an episode of haemorrhagic encephalitis, the patient showed a specific deficit in reading music. She retained the ability to read aloud letters, words, numbers and symbols, including the musical ones, but was quite unable to read aloud musical notes on the staff, either by naming with the conventional letter or by singing or playing them. On the other hand, PKC was still able to remember and play both familiar and new melodies, indicating that the musical reading deficit was not part of a more general musical impairment. The implication for the processing of symbolic notations is discussed.

Key Words:

• music alexia