Dejerine-Lichtheim Sign
Historical document, translated for reference. It reflects medical knowledge of the 1920s–30s and is not medical advice.
Summary
The Dejerine-Lichtheim sign characterizes subcortical or pure motor aphasia, where articulated speech is impossible while all speech images are preserved. A patient with this disorder cannot speak words, but can indicate the number of syllables or vowels using signs, finger tapping, or hand grasps.
Encyclopedia entry (1928–1936)
DEJERINE-LICHTHEIM SIGN (Dejerine, Lichtheim) characterizes so-called subcortical or pure motor aphasia. In this speech disorder, articulated speech is impossible, but all speech images are preserved. Therefore, a patient with such a disorder, being unable to pronounce a word, can show by signs how many syllables or vowels this word contains. In Dejerine's experiment, the patient makes a corresponding number of exhalations or shows a corresponding number of fingers, and in Lichtheim's experiment, makes a corresponding number of hand grasps.
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Cite this page
“Dejerine-Lichtheim Sign.” Soviet Medical Encyclopedia. English translation of Bolshaya Meditsinskaya Entsiklopediya, 1st ed. (Moscow, 1928–1936), ed. N. A. Semashko. https://sovietmedicalencyclopedia.pages.dev/article/dejerine-lichtheim-sign/