Damage of left temporal lobe resulting in conversion of speech to Sutra, a Buddhist prayer stored in the right hemisphere

Abstract

The present study describes a case of a right-handed 74-year-old woman with a brain tumor who showed conversion of speech to Sutra, a Buddhist prayer, which was stored in the right hemisphere according to the Wada test. After surgery, relative improvement in the speech disorder was observed, and frequency of speech production of simple normal words with normal phonology increased. These observations indicate that damage to left temporal lobe resulted in conversion of speech to Sutra, and that Sutra was stored in this patient's right hemisphere.

Keywords:

• Right hemisphere
• Sutra

Acknowledgments

This study is supported by a grant from the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation.