The prognostic significance of sound recognition in receptive aphasia

Among 42 aphasics with notable to severe aural verbal comprehension defects in the acute stage of aphasia, 20 with normal sound recognition showed rapid and almost complete recovery of aural comprehension, regardless of how severely aural comprehension was initially impaired. Among 22 receptive aphasics with impaired sound recognition in the acute stage of aphasia, only 32% recovered rapidly; 45% had impairment two years after onset. Results indicated that intact sound recognition predicts rapid and complete recovery of aural comprehension.