Hemisphere stroke: impact on the semantic lexical aspects of language.

Objective: To investigate if right hemisphere stroke is associated with decreased lexical-semantic ability.

Methods: We compared subjects with right hemisphere brain damage after stroke with healthy controls using the validated version of the Montreal Evaluation of Communication to assess lexical-semantic domains of language.

Results: Sixteen patients and thirty-two controls were included. The post-stroke group with right hemispheric brain lesions showed considerable limitations in metaphor interpretation, fluency, and semantic judgment.

Conclusion: Individuals with right hemisphere damage after stroke may present with language changes in the lexical-semantic aspects.