Expressive aprosody and amusia as a manifestation of right hemisphere seizures.

PURPOSE: Aprosody and amusia are disorders commonly associated with right hemisphere abnormalities. They are regarded as negative phenomena and usually seen after strokes. We report a case of a patient who had both expressive aprosody and amusia as a clinical manifestation of right temporooccipital seizures.

METHODS

A 43-year-old woman had a 1-month history of monotonic speech and difficulty singing. Her examination revealed both expressive aprosody and amusia. Magnetic resonance imaging of the head was normal, but her EEG revealed several electrographic seizures of right temporooccipital origin.

RESULTS

Treatment with phenytoin (PHT) almost immediately caused her speech and singing to return to baseline. A repeated EEG was normal

CONCLUSIONS

Seizures of right temporooccipital origin can manifest with expressive aprosody and amusia.