Neuropsychological consequences of right thalamic haemorrhage: case study and review

The neuropsychological performance of a right-handed man is examined following haemorrhage from the anterior sections of the right thalamus. A pattern of temporally graded retrograde amnesia, global anterograde amnesia, impaired short-term memory, behavioural changes, and severe executive deficits were identified. The deficits evident in this case are discussed in reference to existing neuropsychological literature regarding the consequences of thalamic infarction. It is proposed that damage to the anterior thalamic nuclei results in a frontal dysexecutive syndrome and that such a dysexecutive syndrome can explain the neuropsychological deficits observed in this case.