Postmortem, @entity10747 , and electrical stimulation studies have implicated the anterior pulvinar in language processing. We examined a @entity1 who, after a @entity548 affecting the dominant pulvinar and internal capsule, exhibited a circumscribed @entity5547 for medical items and conditions. No other language disturbance was noted. Five category-specific word lists, matched for word frequency, were administered in a naming-to-definition format. Results indicated that the @entity1 exhibited a significant category-specific naming deficit for medical items and conditions compared to matched control subjects. Although medical item lists were found to differ from nonmedical item lists in imageability and abstractness, B.C.'s category-specific deficit did not seem to be caused by word frequency, concept familiarity, imageability, or abstractness. Nor could the @entity1 's performance be explained on the basis of deficits in broader semantic classifications (i.e., animate vs inanimate or @entity1 -made vs natural). The @entity1 was unable to retrieve medical items even when given phonemic cues for those he could not name. Findings indicate that @entity16 in the dominant pulvinar may create category-specific deficits.

Category-specific naming deficit for medical terms after dominant thalamic/capsular XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patient', 'man'] @entity10747 :: ('MESH:D012183', 'Disease') :: ['retrograde degeneration'] @entity548 :: ('MESH:D006470', 'Disease') :: ['hemorrhage'] @entity16 :: ('MESH:D009422', 'Disease') :: ['subtotal damage'] @entity5547 :: ('MESH:D000849', 'Disease') :: ['anomia']
@entity548 :: (MESH:D006470,Disease) :: ['hemorrhage']
