Y Tanaka, M L Albert, H Hara, T Miyashita, N Kotani
A distinctive, language related fragment of the environmental dependency syndrome is described: compulsive, involuntary, environmentally dependent speaking. Because this syndrome represents the observe of aphasia, it is named forced hyperphasia. An 84 year old woman with acute left frontal infarction was admitted to hospital with gait disturbance, forced grasp reflex, and striking imitation behaviour. After 2 weeks her imitation behaviour disappeared, but an equally striking new behaviour emerged. In the presence of others she would call out the names of objects in the room, and also call out the actions and gestures of people in the room, even though she was not asked to do so, and even though she was asked to stop...
February 2000: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry