ALEXIA  [ back to Glossary Index ]
Alexia is the inability to read. This can result from brain damage causing cognitive or visual problems. The cognitive capacity to understand the written word is centered in Wernicke's area in the left posterior temporal lobe. Frontal lobe injury diminishing the capacities for sustained attention and working memory can be a factor in this disorder. Hippocampal damage can reduce memory encoding or retrieval. Visual perception and recognition of words can be impaired by damage to the optic pathways, parietal lobe or occipital lobe.